Unnerved
by Sailor K
Summary: Arthur, his bumbling servant, and his slightly less bumbling knights get roped (quite literally) into an adventure that could spell the end of his and Merlin's friendship, as well as the end of Camelot. This will be a reveal fic. Warning for whumpage/torture.
1. Chapter 1

"Come oooon, _Merlin_! Hurry it up already! We're starving!"

Tight-lipped, Merlin continued roasting the sausages in the pan above the campfire. "If you don't want to wait for your meal, maybe you should make it _yourself_."

"Or maybe I should just get a new manservant." Arthur retorted from his spot in the clearing. "One who understands that breakfast is a meal usually served _in the morning!_"

"Can't you two wait until _after_ breakfast to start bickering?" Leon asked as he and the other knights emerged from the forest surrounding them. Gwaine was the last to come out of the brush. "Breakfast isn't ready yet? It's almost noon!" He cried out, greatly disheartened by the news. They had been out in the wilderness for eight days already, and with no fresh supply of ale, Gwaine's only comfort for his stomach was food. Arthur nodded approvingly at Gwaine. "That's what I've been saying! Merlin doesn't seem to get it."

Merlin sighed and continued watching over his sausages, pleased with the spicy aroma wafting from them. "Seasonings have to be added and given the proper time to meld with the meat before the taste can be perfected."

"Taste shmaste. Meat is food and food is what I need right now." Gwaine countered as he darted around Merlin's hunched form and snagged a sausage. The sausage landed on the forest floor a moment later. "Ack!" Merlin smirked slightly as Gwaine dropped the sizzling meat and flexed his burning fingers. "I should warn you, it's a bit hot." Leon, Percival, Elyan, and Lancelot all chuckled and took their seats, willing to wait patiently for the food.

Arthur shook his head and turned to Leon. "Did you find the tracks?" Leon pursed his lips and heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, the rainstorm two nights ago... we couldn't find a single trace of the druids. It looks like the hunt is at it's end." No one noticed Merlin's slight change in demeanor at the word "hunt". His eyes were downcast and his lips pursed for a split second.

The druids they were chasing had been discovered in the lower towns of Camelot, receiving supplies and trying to sell some of their own things. They barely escaped (a certain warlock might have pushed over a cart or two and tripped a few unsuspecting soldiers to aid in their flight), and Merlin hoped that it would end there. He hadn't counted on Uther ordering for a manhunt to ensue immediately, nor did he expect that Arthur, eager to please his on-and-off catatonic father, to assist in tracking the druids down. Of course, that meant that Merlin was to accompany him, and Leon would have to come along to look after the prince, and Gwaine had somehow gotten into the mix with Percival at his heels, which left Lancelot and Elyan to either stay at Camelot by themselves or tag along as well. Needless to say, they chose the latter.

Merlin wished that they could just let the druids go and head back home to Camelot where the cooks could deal with Arthur's eating habits. He thought that the rainstorm would have been enough to stop Arthur, but the prince was set on seeing this through. Merlin guessed that it was because Uther had asked for it directly, but didn't prod. Morgana's treachery had shaken both the king and the prince, and Merlin figured that they should work through it by themselves before offering any counsel.

Merlin's thoughts were interrupted by a gentle tap on the back. He turned to Lancelot, who nodded toward the sausages. "If you zone out like that for any longer they'll turn into ash." Merlin quickly pulled the burning food from the fire, glad that Lancelot had seen it and not Arthur. "Breakfast!" He called out to the clearing.

"About time!" Arthur said, exasperated. Gwaine looked equally pleased and actually waited until Merlin placed the hot food into the bowl before indulging. Elyan smiled as he got his share. "I see why you wanted us to wait. This is delicious." Merlin smiled back at him and finished the food-line with Arthur. Arthur didn't move after he got his sausage. Merlin set a pained smile on his face. "Is something wrong?" "It's burnt." Merlin shook his head. "Nooo, that's just... part of the seasoning." Arthur shifted on his feet, glowering. "Elyan didn't get a burnt one, _Mer_lin." Merlin also shifted his feet. "Would you like the sausage Gwaine had?" He motioned to the abandoned sausage on the ground.

Arthur shook his head slowly. "No, but I think you wouldn't mind it." He grabbed Merlin's dish (he had learnt to prepare his food beforehand after spending some time with the gluttons) and walked away. "Hey!" Merlin yelled. "Give it back."

"Are you ordering the future king of Camelot, Merlin?" Arthur turned around, a grin on his face. "I doubt that you have that kind of power." Merlin shared a look with Lancelot, both thinking the same thing. Arthur wouldn't stand a chance if Merlin showed him the "kind of power" he had. "You're right." Merlin said absently. Arthur donned a smug face and turned back around. He tripped shortly after, a root appearing almost out of nowhere in his path. Lancelot hid a grin and went to help the prince up. Merlin didn't bother hiding his, smiling radiantly.

He grabbed his stolen breakfast, which had mysteriously landed upright, and took a bite before going over to Arthur. The prince was brushing the debris off his tunic. "Are you alright, sire?" He asked happily. Arthur just stared at him darkly, trying to find a way to blame Merlin for his slip. Gwaine was chuckling as he ate and Elyan was wondering if he should help or laugh like Gwaine, half-way up from his sitting position in dilemma. Leon, having also come to the prince's aid, was standing beside Lancelot and looking around for anymore assassin-roots. Arthur stopped cleaning his shirt and looked down at his breakfast, which hadn't been as lucky as Merlin's.

He pointed at the scattered remains of the sausage, staring at Merlin. "Look what you did!" Merlin feigned shock. "What do you mean? I didn't trip you!" "You..." Arthur stopped pointing his finger at the food and directed it at Merlin. "...distracted me!" He said in triumph. "I don't think that it's fair to blame Merlin, my lord. You did steal his food." Arthur silently agreed with Leon, but didn't let it show. He stopped pointing accusingly at Merlin and bent down to pick up the now soiled food. As Arthur bent down, Merlin got a chill over his body and a second later an arrow flew through the space that Arthur's head had just been. The arrow imbedded itself in the trunk behind them.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled and the prince stayed hunched, looking in the direction that the arrow had come from. The knights were on their feet and drew their swords, surrounding Arthur as human shields. Arthur drew his own sword and pushed past them. "It came from over there!" He shouted and tried to charge into the woods. A dozen different hands held him back.

"Sire, wait!"

"Don't rush!"

Merlin was pushed back by the knights who were trying their best to protect Arthur. They didn't need to be told what would happen if Uther found out that Arthur had been injured on their watch. Merlin strode toward and ripped out the arrow in the tree. His stomach dropped as he recognized druid markings on the shaft. Were they the same druids that they had been chasing? The chill from earlier suddenly made sense. "They have dark magic." He whispered to himself. He turned back to Arthur, who had stopped fighting the knights, but still stood in front of them. "Show yourself!" Arthur demanded. "Arthur, wait!" Merlin stepped forward.

"Merlin, stay back!" Arthur commanded him. He addressed the knights in a quieter voice. "Go around from all sides. We're sitting ducks in this clearing." He gave them some hand signals that Merlin couldn't even start to understand, and then they disappeared into the forest. Arthur pointed at Merlin and waved for him to come along. Merlin ran over to Arthur. "Arthur, they have magic!" He hissed. Arthur stopped in his tracks. "How do you know this?" Merlin showed him the arrow. "Druids." Arthur's expression changed, and Merlin knew that he had only motivated his master further. "Come on." Arthur set off into the woods as the knights set off in the opposite directions. The parties came back after a prolonged time, no one finding anything substantial. Even Merlin hadn't found anything useful after searching out farther than normal eyes could see. The mysterious bowman, or men, had vanished.

Arthur showed the rest of them the druid markings and had them break down the make-shift camp, prepared to keep moving. They headed in the direction that the arrow had originated from since the trail they had been following was completely wasted from the rainstorm two days ago. They had nothing else to go on. No footprints or broken branches. Just the direction the arrow had come from.

Merlin struggled to stay awake on his horse as they rode into the night. Arthur wasn't going to stop soon, even if he couldn't see two feet in front of him in the darkness. That was how they managed to get lost and lose their supply horse when they tripped into a gorge. After that mishap, Arthur finally admitted defeat and let his knights and servant rest. It wasn't the best sleep, seeing as how their blankets had been on the supply horse. Other things they were missing were a pots and food.

"I'll take that burnt sausage, now." Gwaine grumbled the next day. Elyan agreed with him, snacking on some berries they had found earlier. "At least we still have our horses." Percival shrugged, although he hated the lack of proper food as much as anyone else. Arthur kept firm and determined, not willing to be put down by a couple inconveniences. He found that it wasn't necessary for him to complain, though. The knights behind him were doing enough of that without his help. What worried him was Merlin. He was being oddly silent, staring out into the forest and his expression glazed over. Arthur shrugged it off. He was probably just missing Gaius and the feeling of a night in a real bed. Arthur straightened himself on his horse. Merlin would just have to get used to it, as would the knights. This mission had been given by his father, and he had to see it completed, no matter how long it took or how many horses they lost.

Merlin gazed into the forest, trying to touch minds with any near druids. The problem was that there were none. None at all. Not even a faint whisper of their presence was revealed to Merlin. Merlin found this strange and a bit unnerving. The forest felt empty. They hadn't even found any animals passing by, but Merlin blamed that on the knights that made as much noise as a dragon, during a thunderstorm, while the earth was being split in two. Merlin shook off the empty feeling of the forest and continued to ride. They once again rode into nightfall, but this time Arthur had them get off their mounts and lead the horses by foot. Merlin was glad to know that he wasn't the only one that was saddlesore and just wanted to rest, but no one argued Arthur.

Merlin admitted that the druids they were looking for _had _in fact targeted Arthur's life, and for that he could no longer grant them the grace he wanted to previously. Arthur had to be protected from any adversary, and the close call from yesterday only strengthened that resolution in Merlin's heart. He didn't pay attention to the look Arthur gave him when he subconsciously walked nearer to him, completely consumed with the need to protect Arthur better.

"Afraid of the dark, Merlin?" Arthur joked.

Merlin gave him half a smile, his eyes betraying the thoughts in his head.

Arthur continued to stare. "What's wrong?" Merlin shook his head. "Nothing, sire. Like you said, I can't stand the dark." Arthur nodded, unconvinced but not having the energy to pursue the topic. For that, Merlin was grateful. A wind broke through the trees and buffeted the party. Merlin felt a chill run down his spine, and blamed the gust. He started to worry when the chill stayed with him long after the breeze had vanished. "Arthur." He shivered. He couldn't feel any druid presence. No one had contacted his mind. Yet this was the same feeling he had before, when the arrow had come. Merlin set his jaw and stopped, his horse bumping into him with a whinny. The horse's disturbance got Arthur's attention and he also stopped, looking back at Merlin. "Is everything all right? We're not stopping yet, not until we've-"

In an instant the chill in Merlin's body sharpened with such an intensity that he gasped and jerked forward, launching toward Arthur, who was still speaking, oblivious to the danger around. Merlin crashed into Arthur and sent him sprawling to the ground just as he heard the faint twang of a crossbow.

"Merlin! What are you-" Arthur cried out at his servant's erratic behavior, but stopped short as the words hung in his mouth. Merlin slumped forward onto his knees, his face a mixture of shock and fear as he looked at Arthur. He collapsed further, his face hitting the dirt. Even though it was dark, Arthur still made out the druid markings on the arrow as it stemmed out of Merlin's back.

* * *

_I hope that I did well! I'd appreciate any and all suggestions, comments, criticisms, etc. _

_Was it boring? _

_Did I drawl on too long? _

_Did I do the characters justice? _

_I have no idea ._._

_I'm hoping for a whopper of a story out of this. I hope you enjoyed! (It feels like a slow start to me, but I really felt like taking my time with the first chapter and get into the mood. Understand? No? Okay.)_

_Next update will be May 1st (I will be doing monthly updates until my workload gets better... IF it gets better, I should say.)_


	2. Chapter 2

"Hold him down!"

"You can do something, can't you?"

"Get me some water. Arthur, hand me your cape and cut off the jacket. No, don't jab him, for goodness sake!"

"Hey, guys, he's waking up."

"Merlin! Can you me?"

"...Rthr?" Merlin moaned, his voice barely audible. Darkness had enveloping his being, taking him deeper into himself, and escaping the mind-numbing pain that he was sure would greet him if he awoke. However, Arthur's voice was bringing him back into reality far faster than he was expecting. He found himself coming out of the void, and instantly wished that he hadn't.

Merlin's head was spinning and he couldn't get control over his body. Everything was discombobulated, and everything _hurt_. His back was on fire, and throbbed viciously at the slightest touch. There were hands on Merlin's back that irritated the source of the pain further and sent tremors down his spine. He flinched hard and tried to cry out when lightning streaked across his body. His cry came out as an inarticulate groan that was stifled after a second.

"Carefully! I told you to take the jacket off _carefully!_" Merlin moaned as the throbbing started to intensify. He tried to recall what happened. His head hurt as he tried to remember. Were they attacked? He remembered the sound of a crossbow being fired. Was Arthur alright?

Merlin's braced himself and opened his eyes, briefly thankful to find that it was still dark. He squinted at the blurred shapes around him. He tried to identify Arthur, and failed until one of the blurs started talking to him with the prince's voice. "Merlin, hang on... Listen, you're going to be alright. Are you listening?" There was a trembling in Arthur's voice. So he _wasn't _going to alright. "How are you feeling?" Merlin tried to find his voice. "...Marvel...ous.." His breath hitched when another wave of pain flooded his body. He buried his face into the earth, the pain seizing anymore movement from him except for the uncontrollable shiver.

"Hey, come on, Merlin. You're alright." Arthur put his hand on Merlin's arm. His hand was batted away by Leon, who shook his head. "Don't try to rouse him, sire. You will only agitate the wound." Arthur retracted his hand into his chest and nodded. His eyes trailed to the arrow sticking out of Merlin's right shoulder blade. His red shirt was turning darker and darker around the arrow.

Arthur swallowed heavily and looked up at Leon and Lancelot, who were both on the other side of his manservant. Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan were guarding them from the unseen dangers in the surrounding trees. Leon was ripping Arthur's donated cape into shreds. The knight noticed Arthur's staring. "Arthur, could you _carefully_," he emphasized the word after having seen Arthur take off the servant's jacket, "cut away the shirt around the arrow." Arthur nodded mutely and handled his knife. He and the rest of the knights were quick to look to Leon for help, and luckily for them, it sounded like the older and more experienced knight knew what he was doing.

"We can't do anything about the arrow right now. It's in too deep to pull out without causing further damage, and we can't get it past his shoulder to pull out on the other side." Leon explained. His words made Arthur too sick with worry to do anything except hack at Merlin's ruined shirt with his knife. Everything about this situation felt wrong. It was idiotic. Why did Merlin always have to play the hero? Arthur decided that he would invest in some sturdy chain-mail for his manservant if he was going to continue flinging himself into danger like this. That would be the first thing that he would do when they got back to Camelot.

_If_ they got back to Camelot.

A dark pit strengthened itself in Arthur's stomach. It had first appeared when he noticed the arrow jutting out of Merlin right after the second ambush. One moment he was trying to crack a smile out of his somber servant, and the next he was on the ground checking for a pulse. His knights reacted instantly as soon as the arrow was fired. Swords were drawn out and a lot of yelling occurred, but nothing had come of it. Just like the first attack, only one arrow was fired, and the culprit had vanished. Whoever did this hadn't been Arthur's main concern, though. His thoughts and actions were solely fixed on Merlin's unmoving and most likely dead figure.

Arthur wouldn't be able to describe his emotions after he found a pulse on Merlin. There was a swell of relief and overwhelming joy. There was also guilt, but the sheer happiness that Merlin wasn't dead pushed it away. No one should have been able to survive something like that. It felt like a dream. However, the dream soon turned into a nightmare. His relief was quickly replaced with panic and anxious dread. Merlin was hurt. Merlin wasn't dead, but he would be soon.

Arthur tried to get a handle on his emotions when Leon and Lancelot knelt down to help Merlin. He was a prince, and he had to act like one. Panicking wouldn't do him... wouldn't do _Merlin _any good. Arthur found himself cursing inside his head. This was Merlin! That self-sacrificing idiot finally went to far and it could cost him his life. Arthur pushed those thoughts away, not wanting to bear anymore thought about death. Merlin wouldn't die. He couldn't. Arthur wouldn't allow it.

Arthur was brought back to the present when he finished tearing up Merlin's shirt. "What next?" he asked quietly, wincing as he took off Merlin's shredded shirt and took a look at the damage. The fabric made a horrible squelching sound as it came off of Merlin's back; blood was dripping from it and steadily oozing out of the skin that the arrow was imbedded in. The skin around the arrow shaft was inflamed and blotched with blood. A bruise was forming just around the wound. Arthur furrowed his brow, and tried to ignore the constantly growing black pit in his stomach. He asked once again, "What next?"

Leon and Lancelot looked as transfixed at the servant as Arthur was. "Dear lord..." Lancelot murmured. After a moment, they collected themselves and sprang into action. Leon began dabbing the blood with a shred of Arthur's cloak. Merlin visibly tensed when Leon got too close to the puncture wound. "Ahh! Please–" Merlin choked weakly. "stop."

Arthur didn't realize that Merlin was still conscious. "Why can't you just pass out like a normal person?" He asked his manservant, incredulous.

"I'm normal..." Merlin replied weakly.

Arthur shook his head. "Is that the best you can come up with?" Merlin groaned, both at the pain and at Arthur. "You try... making good banter when... there's an arrow in your back... It's... it's harder than... it looks..."

"Just focus on breathing, Merlin. Don't talk."

Merlin obliged. The fact of the matter was that he _couldn't_ breath. Anything more than a shallow intake of air sent of pang of anguish throughout his insides. He felt light-headed. Merlin lost what little breath he was holding onto when someone poured water over his back. The knights noticed his distress. "Just cleaning the wound, it's okay." Merlin moaned. Nothing was okay. Everything felt bleak and muffled. Merlin knew that he should have passed out or even passed on by now. He didn't know whether to thank or curse his luck and magic. If he didn't have his magic backing him up, then the arrow most likely would have killed him upon impact. Merlin didn't dwell on that. He couldn't dwell on anything. Whenever he tried to focus his thoughts, the pain flared up again, as if attacking his right to do anything. He tried not to react as Leon continued helping him, and after a while he felt himself drifting off again.

Just as Merlin was sinking back into sleep, a sharp jolt attacked his back and provoked him painfully back into reality. He squirmed relentlessly against the hands that jumped onto his back and kept him pinned down on the ground. "Merlin– stop moving! We're cutting away part of the shaft. Keep still!" Merlin dug his fingers into the soft earth and gritted his teeth, trying to control the flares of pain. "It..." Blackness was ebbing its way into Merlin's vision. "..._hurts_... I... I can't breathe!" He finished with a gasp.

"Merlin, _please _stay awake! You'll be fine, just hang on!" The servant felt himself going limp. He vaguely noticed a hand upon his forehead. His vision was ebbing away again until the black earth and the red uniforms of the knights blurred together into a disoriented mess. His eyes slid shut. "Merlin... tay..ou hear... e? _Mer_... do...omething!" Arthur's speech started fading in and out. Merlin felt like he was being sucked into a black lake, where the bottom was miles beneath the surface. There wasn't any light or coherent sounds. He felt sluggish to the point where he couldn't feel anything, and even the pain was numbing itself to him. It frightened him, but he didn't know what to do to stop it. The blackness surrounding Merlin was overwhelming, and he finally relented and fell into unconsciousness.

Arthur stepped away from Merlin. His hands were flying from his belt to his head and back to his belt, not quite sure which position to take. Merlin was under, and for one moment Arthur panicked that his manservant would never wake up again. He finally settled his hands on his waist. "He said he can't..." A hand ran through his hair, despite his attempts at keeping them still. He cleared his throat. "He said that he couldn't breathe. What do we do about that?" Lancelot was propping up Merlin while Leon wound the red strips of cloak around the servant's chest and back. Leon finished securing the cloth, and made sure that it was effectively stopping the bleeding while keeping the bit of arrow that poked out from jostling. "We get him to Gaius, that's all that can be done." Leon said wearily.

Elyan sheathed his blade and turned from the forest. "But that's a week's ride!" Leon snapped his head up at the younger knight. "What else would you have us do? Stay in these woods and get picked off one by one by the mysterious bowman?!" Then, more calmly at Arthur, "Sire?"

Arthur breathed in deeply, trying to think rationally. They had no luck so far in the druid hunt; he realized that they should have given up after the rainstorm. There wasn't any sign of anything in this forest besides the bowman, and they hadn't even gotten a glimpse of him. They wouldn't be able to continue the hunt without their supply horse, and now Merlin was in mortal danger. That last detail sealed Arthur's decision. "Gather the horses. We ride back to Camelot immediately."

Arthur's knights followed his orders and untied the horses from the trees. Percival walked up from behind Arthur and slapped a hand onto his shoulder. Arthur looked back at his knight, who gave him a look that said that he was just as worried for Merlin. Gwaine nodded his head at Arthur's decision as he walked passed him, and went to help Leon and Lancelot with Merlin's body. "Let me help, he's not as light as he appears."

Arthur stood back as Merlin was hoisted onto his horse. His servant slid sidways and Gwaine had to snatch ahold of his makeshift bandages to keep him from falling off. Merlin, still out cold, let out a hiss of pain. Leon took ahold of Gwaine's arm. "Don't touch the bandages. He just might die from the added pain."

"He's going to die anyway."

Arthur spun around and unsheathed his sword at the stranger's voice. A girl with dark hair stood before him, undaunted. She was only a child, but Arthur refused to relax his sword. He heard the swords of his knights also being unsheathed, which strengthened his resolve. "Who are you? Are you the one that has been shooting as us?" The girl raised her eyebrows at him. Arthur had the strange thought that with a little training, her eyebrows could be as impressive as Gaius'. "I'm twelve." the girl said. "Do you really think that I could shoot anyone?"

"With proper training, anyone could use a crossbow. Now tell me who you are!"

The girl pursed her lips and rolled her sleeve back, revealing the druidic symbol. "I am a druid," she kept her sleeve furled up. "and my people have no need for crossbows." Arthur felt his stance relaxing, but kept his sword pointed at the girl. "Why are you here?" The girl pointed at the slumped figure of Merlin on the horse. "I am here for him. He will die before you make it back to Camelot."

"How do you–"

"–Although you have left Camelot's borders, Prince Arthur, you are still widely known. But that's not important right now. Let me heal him." Arthur took a step backwards toward Merlin. "Thank you, but we've already done everything that we can." The little girl shook her head. "I mean to heal him with magic. We are outside of Camelot's borders, so you shouldn't have any problems with it, yes?"

Arthur gripped his sword. He couldn't condone the use of magic! He glanced back at Merlin. The bandages were already darkening as more blood continued to escape the arrow wound. He couldn't let Merlin die, either. Arthur sighed, and returned his attention to the druid girl. They _had _passed Camelot's borders only a couple nights ago, and this was healing magic. It couldn't be _that_ disastrous. "Where are the rest of your people? Are you sheltering the druids that we have been searching for?"

"We shelter no one, and I will show you my family once _he_ is healed." She replied bluntly. Arthur stepped to the side, his sword hand still tense. "Then hurry and heal him. If any treachery is used, there _will_ be repercussions."

"Of course."

When their prince stepped aside, the knights quickly lowered Merlin from the horse and back onto the ground. The druid was kneeling at his side in seconds. She looked up at Arthur. "You are sure that you will let me use magic?" Arthur hesitated, but ended up nodding. "Just save him." She grinned and turned back to Merlin. The incantation slid out of her mouth, "_Þurhhæle dolgbenn."_

Merlin awoke to the words of the Old Religion. Something strange drew him out of the blackness that enveloped him earlier, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He cringed involuntarily, waiting for the tormenting pain to return. He waited... and waited. He still hurt, and something about his right arm didn't feel correct, but the constant fire that rippled across his back was gone. "You may feel a small jab, but just pretend that it's a thorn or splinter, okay?" Merlin tried to find the voice that was talking to him, but didn't have time before the arrow was quickly yanked out of his back. He cringed again and shouted out hoarsely. He thought that he heard Arthur shouting too.

"_Ic hæle þina þrowunga." _There they were again. Merlin recognized some of the words from the Old Religion, and realized that this person was trying to heal him. That explained the lessening of the pain when he woke up. Merlin squinted into the night. He moved his head a bit, and caught a glimpse of an arm with a druid symbol on it. Merlin instantly reached out with his mind. The forest had been so quiet with no animals or druids around for the past few days; Merlin felt like he had found a pure spring of water in the middle of the desert. _Who are you?_

_I can hear you... shouldn't that give you a clue?_

_You are a druid. But why are you here? These men are from Camelot._

_Honestly, I simply came to retrieve my arrows._

Merlin looked at the piece of arrow that had just been in his back in the girl's hand. His eyes widened. That was her arrow. _You were the one..._ "Arthur!" His voice was shot, and he could barely hear his own voice. He doubted that Arthur even knew that he was still awake. The Druid gently placed her hand over his eyes. "_Onslæp nu._" _Sleep, Emrys. Arthur should not know,_ _not yet._ Merlin fought against the spell, but it came on too rapidly, and before he knew it he was returning to the blackness that he had come out of.

Arthur tapped his foot impatiently. "Well?" The girl stood up and smiled. "He is out of immediate danger. I will take you to my father, who will be able to completely heal him." Arthur looked at his knights. They stared back, indicating that this was his decision. He twirled his sword in his hand. "Lead the way, then."

The druid girl smiled, twirling the broken arrow in the same manner than Arthur had his sword. "Follow me."

* * *

_Victim: Sailor K_

_Culprit(s): hopper18, AMerlinMourner, Neonlights, Felicity P, Mika271170, lilyflower1345, TN Sarah, emiliarose375, wolfnymph1 and anonymous reviewers_

_Murder Weapon(s): awesome reviews, faves, and alerts_

_Cause of Death: Sheer happiness; combusted on sight._

_(faints) Thank you so much for the feedback in this story! You guys are the reason I creeped people out the last month with this huge, unwavering smile on my face! I'm glad you all enjoy it :)_

_So... one month is really a long time, as you all pointed out. Unfortunately... work is relentless, and takes up way too much time for me to comfortably set closer dates for new chapters. Next chapter update will be June 1st!... why are you glaring? I'm going to try to get it up sooner, but June 1st is the deadline!_

_Thank you for reading :D (brownie points to anyone who found my little quip concerning a superhero franchise that just released an epic new trailer and and also an epic new movie soon...)_


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you think they'll have food there?" Gwaine asked Percival, who returned his question with an odd look. Gwaine shrugged. "It's a fair question. We haven't eaten since–"

"Quiet!" Gwaine and Percival straightened at the druid's voice. The girl was glaring at them. She fiddled with the broken arrow in her satchel. "We shouldn't make any unnecessary noises, understand?" Gwaine tightened his grip on the reigns of his horse before nodding curtly. The girl stared at them for a moment longer before turning around in her saddle and stirring her horse onward.

Gwaine gave Percival a look. They had been riding for hours, still following the druid girl who was riding Merlin's horse (It was decided that Merlin would ride with Arthur after several failed attempts at keeping him stable on his own horse). Gwaine glanced behind him at the prince and his servant. Merlin still hadn't woken up, even though the sun was already beginning to rise. Gwaine couldn't blame him, though. The night had been long and everyone, even the prince, was feeling the exhaustion settling in, and that was without an arrow to the back.

Arthur took a swig of water from his canteen, feeling a little cross. It was morning, yet there were no signs of any other druids or settlements. In fact, they had only gone deeper into this forest, but there hadn't been any signs of _anything_ here besides them. There weren't any druids, animals, or even insects to be accounted for. The forest was so silent without the familiar sounds of creatures trampling through the undergrowth or the constant hum of insects that Arthur was sure that he would go mad soon. The druid girl's "no talking" rule didn't help matters either.

Arthur decided that he had enough after the girl put _Gwaine_ of all people into submission. He spurred his horse forward until he caught up with the girl. "How much further until we reach your camp?" She stared at him the same way she had Gwaine. At this point, Arthur didn't really care. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I being too _loud_? Because my servant is injured, and you've been leading us at this ungodly pace the entire night without conceding _any _information about _where_ we're going or _how long_ it will take us." He took a breath. "And why is it that we have to be so silent? The forest is empty."

The girl kept her annoyed expression fixed on her face as she hissed out a reply. "My father isn't much further, and we must stay silent so that those under the _curse_ won't find us. So please teach your men how to keep their mouths shut!"

Oh.

Hold on… "A curse?" Arthur's voice was softening to a lower volume with an undertone of skepticism. It was the same tone he often used with Merlin when the servant suggested something ludicrous, such as mandatory vacation days. The girl nodded her head slowly, mistaking his skepticism for cluelessness. "Of course. Haven't you ever heard a curse before?"

"I've had my fair share of them."

The druid made a face. "I bet that this curse is worse than any others you've seen!" Arthur found that hard to believe. Despite the magic ban, Camelot always seemed to be a centerpoint for evil curses for some strange, unexplainable reason. He would blame Merlin for all of Camelot's mishappenings, but with the servant out cold while leaning against him with a paralyzing injury, it just didn't seem appropriate. "What does this curse do to make it so much _worse_, exactly?"

"What do you think it does?" Kill? Poison? Disfigures oneself? At least Merlin would be safe if it was the last one… Arthur took that thought back, once again remembering that the servant wasn't awake to defend himself. "…It got rid of all of the animals?" Given the prior observations, this seemed most logical. The druid replied, voice growing above a whisper, despite her "silence" rule. "The curse corrupts anything that it comes across. A couple days ago, this sect of the forest was full of animals. But in a another few days, even the trees and ground will be rotted." She gestured to the trunks rising high above them. "The curse's starting point was contaminated first. The stream dried up, and all of the animals either fled or became diseased. The magic in the earth was also corrupted, it turned black and messes with druidic magic. It's spreading out, and it reached my people's camp." Her voice, which had been growing louder and louder, hushed down at this pivitol point. "My friends, the elders, the other children, they were all corrupted by the curse as well. It… changed them, I think. The aftermath was…" She stopped both her talking and her horse. Arthur felt his hands tighten on his reigns. "What was the aftermath?" The girl looked down, then up at the trees and shrubbery in front of them. "We're here."

She slid off of the horse, her feet sinking slightly into the dirt upon landing. She ran forward toward a cluster of pine trees as the knights (who were listening intently along with Arthur) got off of and secured their horses. Arthur needed help down while securing Merlin to the horse and making sure that the servant stayed center in the saddle. The girl directed their attention back to her. "I'd like to show you, Prince Arthur." Arthur tentatively took a step forward. "Show me what?" The druid girl beckoned for them to follow her through the pines. "The aftermath."

Arthur came up out of the prickly branches to the other side, his knights close behind him. He was staring at a druid camp, or, at least, the _remains_ of what _could _have been a druid camp at one point in time. There were tents, campfires, clotheslines, all of the normalities for a camp to have... except that the tents were torn and twisted, the campfire ashes were spread around and the lining rocks were strewn in disarray, while the clotheslines were torn off of the tree branches, allowing the clothes to get in a tangled and muddy mess. However, that wasn't what caught Arthur's attention, nor what made him stop in his tracks and block out everything around him, including his knights who were softly cursing behind him.

What stopped and made he and the knights stare were the bodies strewn all over the forest floor.

It looked like there had been a fight. Arthur felt like slapping himself. That part was blatantly obvious, it wasn't even worth mentioning. Of course the most obvious thing would be his deduction, but it was pretty hard to ignore. Most of the bodies were bloody, and those that weren't still had bruises on their figures or torn clothing. The strewn about campfire rocks were suddenly making sense. However, the scorch marks in the earth that he just noticed didn't, and neither did the giant fallen tree that had human limbs sticking up from underneathe it.

Arthur had to remind himself that they were druids. They could and most definiteley _did _use magic here. The conversation with the little girl came flooding back to him. Was this her camp? They were all corrupted by... the curse? Is that why they killed each other? Druids were widely known as a peaceful people, so Arthur was having a hard time of thinking of another excuse.

"What happened here?" Percival finally asked. The girl looked at the giant man. "The curse turned them all mad and some got–"

She was suddenly distracted, now looking just past Percival. Percival and the others turned to see what she was looking at, and found Gwaine at the center of her gaze. His sword was drawn and he was glaring right back at the little girl. Arthur spoke up, "Gwaine, what is it?" Gwaine looked at each of his comrades each in turn, then back at the girl. "She's saying that they were corrupted by this curse because they had magic. We saw her use magic on Merlin, and this was where she lived." His fingers gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. "How do we know that she hasn't also been corrupted?"

Arthur couldn't believe that he was hearing this from _Gwaine_. She did shush him earlier though, so maybe he had a grudge. However, Gwaine wasn't one to hold grudges. His words were sensible enough, which in itself was quite unbelievable. "Gwaine, she's been helping us since she found us. She healed Merlin!" Gwaine replied, "I don't like it either, princess, but I'm not going to put Merlin at the mercy of someone who very well might have shot him!"

"Gwaine!"

"She is the only living thing we have encountered here, and all of the other druids are dead, as we now see. She says that she has no use for arrows, but that arrow that almost hit you and the one that hit Merlin _that is in her bag_ have druidic symbols etched into them! Who else could be a suspect? The trees, maybe?"

"_Gwaine!_" Arthur put his foot down. Gwaine lifted his chin, eyes dark. Arthur opened his mouth to reprimand him, to tell him that everything that he was saying was absurd. His mouth stayed open for a good five seconds before he closed it. He turned his head to the girl. She remained silent. Arthur understood that everything Gwaine said was plausible. He cursed silently to himself; why was it now that Gwaine had to be so profound and cautious? Arthur was pretty sure that a week without alcohol had something to do with it.

He continued to stare at the girl, lost in Gwaine's accusations. The thought of her shooting Merlin made his blood boil, but he repressed that anger. Arthur recognized that Gwaine had made a valid point in his rantings. "How _are_ you not corrupted by the curse?" The girl opened her mouth to reply, but a whinnying of a horse interrupted her explanation.

The knights looked at each other upon hearing the sound. Arthur realized what it meant first, and bolted back through the trees to where they tied up their horses with the knights trailing right behind him. They reached the horses, and found that they weren't alone. Eight druid men were untying and gathering the steeds together, including the one Merlin was on. One of the druids noticed Arthur's entrance and raised the palm of his hand. Arthur immediately dove for cover in the pine branches to escape the blast of energy that took out a good section of the pine beside him.

He saw the knights catch up to him in the cover of the pine trees, but focused his attention on the druid girl under question. "I thought you said they killed all of each other!" The child looked agitated. "I was trying to get to that part! The more ruthless ones survived!" Elyan's mouth was drawn into a thin line. "More ruthless ones, you say?" Leon sighed. "Great. But why would they steal our horses?" The girl replied with a groan, "It's not the horses! It's Merlin!" Lancelot was the only one who looked genuinely worried at first. The rest just looked bewildered at the interest in Merlin. Gwaine's bewilderment was quickly replaced with determination for his friend. "I'd like to see them try." He gave his sword a practice flourish, and proceeded to run out of the ferns with a war-cry.

True, the sudden abruptness of a man charging with a sword _did_ startle the druids, but Arthur knew that Gwaine had no chance at chasing off eight malevolent sorcerers under the influence of a curse. That is, no chance _alone_. "Come on." He unsheathed his sword from his scabbard, and followed Gwaine's line of action with the rest of his knights following in suit.

The appearance of not just one, but six knights took the druids by surprise. Arthur would have been pleased with the shock on their faces and irritation in their eyes, but he was too preoccupied with getting to Merlin. Four of them were with Merlin's horse, one of them even had the nerve to clutch his shoulder. Arthur bared his sword and teeth, and spun the blade to pierce one of the druids. The older man easily sidestepped the blow and took out a knife from his robes. He slashed the knife at Arthur, who just barely jumped back to avoid the attack. Arthur maneuvered his sword to catch the druid's second attack with the knife. He twisted the hilt out of the man's grasp with a clean pivot from his own weapon. Arthur sidestepped as another blast of raw energy grazed him. He thrust his sword forward, but was sent flying backwards by the second sorcerer.

Arthur hit a tree with a _thud_. He would definitely be bruising the next day. A groan escaped from him as he slowly got up. He surveyed the scene. His knights were fighting bravely, as always, but they didn't have magic to back them up. Gwaine was fighting with one beside the pines, and Arthur was certain that the druid was toying with him. However, Arthur did spot an unconscious druid next to the pair. It looked like Gwaine really did come in with the element of surprise. Percival and Lancelot were surprisingly holding their own against two others. They were using a clever technique that involved dodging and striking that wouldn't work unless there were two of them working together. Arthur had a feeling that they had practiced this before. He turned to the horses. The two druids that he had been battling before were no longer interested in him. They were joining the other two beside them in the fight against Elyan and Leon, who had somehow retrieved their horses and were fighting from horseback now.

Arthur raised his sword to rejoin the fight. Just as he made his way to the fight, Elyan's horse was roughly crippled by a spell, which sent all of the other horses into a frenzy, racing off into the forest and successfully trampling one of the druids. Leon managed to get the one he was seated on settled, but the chaos also sent Arthur's horse rearing up. Merlin's saddle restraints were snapped, and he tumbled to the ground as the horse raced after the others. Arthur quickly reached the site and knelt to check on Merlin while Elyan recovered from the fallout and attacked the druids from the ground.

Arthur swiftly brought his hand to Merlin's neck and checked Merlin's pulse. It wasn't necessary, though, as Merlin was opening his eyes a moment later. "Ow... that hurt."

"Merlin!"

Merlin grumbled and rasped, "Why do I always have to be in pain when I wake up..?" Arthur would be more thrilled that Merlin was finally coherent again if not for the current situation. "We can discuss your need to throw yourself into danger later, but right now you need to stay _out_ of it. Just stay on the ground like that and don't do anything."

"...Does this count as a vacation?" "Merlin, you're not allowed to have vacations. This is a temporary excused rest. Stay down." Merlin watched as Arthur rose up and fought something out of his frame of vision. He closed his eyes. There was now only a dull ache when he lied on his back. Compared to before, it felt like being on a cotton-stuffed bed with feather pillows lining his frame. He saw no reason to disobey Arthur's commands for once. After all, how often did he get ordered to lie on the ground and do nothing while Arthur fought off an enemy? Merlin's thoughts pricked up. What was Arthur fighting?

Contemplating this began to stir up Merlin's thoughts. Arthur is fighting an enemy. It's probably bandits, or at the most, a magical creature of some sort.

Magic. Arthur can't fight against magic. He doesn't have to, though. Magic can be used for good. It can build, help, heal...

Heal. Magic can heal. His back no longer hurt, which meant that it was healed. It was healed with magic. The druid girl healed his back with magic. The druid was the one who was targeting them with the ambushes! Merlin's thoughts finally stopped running round and round, and centered on this thought.

He wondered if the druid was still with them, or if the others had figured it out by now. Merlin was conflicted. She had confessed to hunting them down and trying to kill them, but she had healed him. That was controversial, it didn't make and inkling of sense. Merlin opened his eyes and took in a gulp of air as he lifted himself into a sitting position. It didn't hurt as much as before. It was tolerable. The girl really had healed him fairly well.

A yell brought Merlin back into reality. He looked up and saw Gwaine crash against a tree trunk. Merlin winced as his friend fell to the ground. The person that had sent Gwaine flying was... a druid..?! Merlin wasn't expecting that. The person that Merlin thought belonged to a peaceful and pacifist civilization turned toward Merlin's direction after making sure that Gwaine was knocked out cold. Merlin then noticed other druids that were much closer who were battling with Leon, Elyan, and Arthur. He turned back to the druid that had incapacitated Gwaine, who was now raising his hand in the direction of the three battling knights. The spell was cast, and Merlin attempted to raise his right arm to block the unfriendly magic.

The curse hit Leon and Elyan, sending them to the ground with shouts of pain. Merlin froze from shock and horror. He tried to raise his right arm again. It's only response was a tremble and then slight throbbing. His arm wasn't working. He looked at the makeshift cape-bandages that covered up his chest. The druid child had healed the outer part of the wound on his shoulder blade, but that didn't count the internal damage. His arm was numb to him, with the exception of a throb here and there. Merlin tried to raise it up again, but it wouldn't respond. Merlin attempted to move his left hand. It was completely normal, functioning as it should. But what good was as a servant with only one arm? He became worried, anxiety starting to claw its way through him. It could be healed. It just needed to be mended properly, right? It's not as if it was dead forever… _right?_

Maybe Merlin wouldn't be so worried about this if he was better at healing spells. Gaius would think of something, he always had a solution for everything. This would be no problem at all. Merlin tried to tell himself these things, but the unresponsiveness of his right arm seemed to overpower any of the rational thoughts he was trying to procure.

"Percival!"

Merlin ripped himself away from his inner turmoil as he heard Lancelot cry out and saw Percival hit the ground after a well-aimed spell hit him square in the chest.

Merlin looked back at Arthur. The Crowned Prince of Camelot was backed up against a tree without his sword, switching back and forth between glaring at the opposing druids that cornered him and checking around the site for his felled knights. Merlin noticed one druid pick up something from the ground before approaching the prince. It was a knife.

Merlin decided that all things considered, hand gestures weren't very important right now. He gathered up his magic inside of him as it swirled up and up into his grasp. The druid was almost upon Arthur, and was raising his knife threateningly at the unarmed prince. Merlin directed his gaze at the druids, and with a silent command, propelled his magic forward with a glint of gold in his eyes.

The magic roughly fought back, almost slamming back into Merlin himself. Merlin felt a sting as the magic retracted back, refusing to go forward. Merlin wanted to scream. First his arm, and now this. He didn't understand why his magic was acting strangely. He didn't have much time to figure out why this was, as the druid was raising his knife to pierce Arthur, who was firmly holding his stance with all of his exits blocked.

A blur of silver steel and red cape swept passed Merlin, and cut down the unsuspecting druid from behind. Merlin watched as Lancelot tore his sword out of the druid. Merlin whipped his head around, cringing as a twinge of pain strained his neck. He saw that there were two druids beside Percival who looked just as incapacitated as the knight. All that was left was the one Gwaine had been battling, who had joined the other three who surrounded Arthur. They did not look happy with Lancelot as they stared at the dead knife-wielding druid at his feet. Lancelot took advantage of their stupor and thrust his blade at the next druid. The druid gathered his wits just in time to dodge the blood-stained sword and thrust his own hand forward, barely touching the knight's chest. Lancelot fell backwards with a pained grunt, dropping his sword and clutching his chest. The druid bent down, picked up Lancelot's abandoned sword, and raised it above his head to strike Arthur in one swift and fluid motion.

Merlin didn't care if his magic was acting strangely. He could still feel it within him, and as long as it was there it was going to do it's job to protect Arthur! Merlin grasped ahold of his magic and vaulted it at the druids who were moments away from striking Arthur. Merlin's eyes burned gold, yet there was still resistance. The stinging sensation came back as his magic fought him off. Merlin refused to give up. He stood up swiftly, ignoring the sudden flashes of pain that came from his shoulder and parts of his right arm. He locked his legs in an attempt to stay upright, and once again launched his attack. His head screamed out in pain, but instead of relenting, Merlin drove past the restraints. His magic exploded out of him, ripping a hoarse scream from his throat as the pain within his head intensified. All four druids surrounding Arthur flew away from him and past Merlin in a frightening blast of wind.

Merlin released the magic, thus releasing him from the terrible pounding and stinging in his head. He gladly unlocked his legs and sunk to the ground. Lancelot, still conscious, looked at Merlin with admiration. Merlin didn't pay him any attention, as he was busy trying to recover from wielding magic... he really couldn't understand why he was having so much difficulty, or why it _hurt_ so much.

Merlin then realized that he might have bigger problems than a little flux in his magic and headache. He looked up past Lancelot at Arthur. Arthur was staring at him, his head bent slightly at an angle. His brow was worrisome and his mouth was slightly agape, which wasn't a usual expression associated with the Crowned Prince. Arthur closed his mouth after realizing how long he had kept it open, but opened it a second later. "Merlin... What was that?"

* * *

_Wow. I completely coordinated this update wrong. I forgot that I had an SAT today, and that this week was finals week x_x. However, I was able to finish this chapter by writing snippets of it on my scratch paper in between exams! My professors are going to be confused, I think... but who cares? It's summer now!_

_Although I do have a lot planned this summer (I think I'm going to need a summer vacation after this summer vacation), I am going to try to have faster updates! Yay! _

_Next update will be Monday, the 10th. Please review! (I am overwhelmed by how many people have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! Buckets of appreciation to all of you!)_


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur wasn't exactly sure how he had ended up with his back against a tree, weaponless and surrounded by druids. One moment he was fighting alongside Leon and Elyan, then the next he was alone and taking on four druids singlehandedly. One or two magical enchantments later had him pinned up against the tree, unable to move his limbs and staring down at Lancelot's sword that was about to cleave him in half.

He couldn't dodge because of the spell one of the druids had restrained him with, and even if he could he would only be running into one of the other three druids surrounding him. He was immobilized, his knights had been defeated and his servant was suffering from a severe wound (not that Merlin would normally be of any help in these types of situations). Arthur knew that these druids had gone mad, as the little girl had explained earlier. If they did half of what he saw in the druid camp, then there was no way that they would back away from killing him now. The sword that the druid had taken from Lancelot was bearing down on Arthur, who closed his eyes, not willing to stare at defeat.

He thought of Gwen, who was probably serving his father breakfast right about now. Arthur remembered his father, and wondered if he was awaiting his return with the captured druids. Arthur wondered if the druids they had been searching for were somewhere in the massacre site, or if they had escaped. Maybe they hadn't even travelled through here. Maybe they were safe in another camp far away. That thought made Arthur happy... which made him feel weird. To be happy that his enemies had escaped... anyone and everyone in Camelot would call him crazed. Except for Merlin, who didn't even like hunting deer, much less humans. Arthur wondered if Merlin would make it out alive. He probably would, he had a knack for getting out of tight spots despite his appearance. Merlin would be out of the job for sure, though. There wasn't another noble alive that could put up with his clumsy antics and laziness. Arthur prayed that the druids would spare his knights. He prayed that this curse, whatever it was, would spare Camelot if it spread that far.

Arthur went through all of these last thoughts, and many more, in less than two seconds as he waited for the sword to strike. The two seconds past, and a rush of _something_ swept all around Arthur. It felt like wind, laced with magic and a very definitive purpose. His legs almost crumpled beneath him as they surrendered to his control once again. The magic that bound him was fleeing with the strange wind. He heard cloaks and robes snap and ripple in the blast, then four _thuds_ in the distance.

Arthur opened his eyes.

The druids were gone. Not _gone_, but well away from Arthur. They were incapacitated several horse lengths away from him. They had flown past Gwaine, still stunned on the floor, Percival, also unconscious, and Merlin, who was facing Arthur on his feet. Arthur was having trouble processing how Merlin was able to stand, nevermind everything else that had happened only a moment before. That wind had magic propelling it. The druids couldn't have done it. Arthur spied around the woods with his eyes. His knights were the only ones there... them and Merlin, who was the most-alive person at the moment, injuries and all. He stared at Merlin as confusion continued to spread throughout him. "Merlin... What was that?" Arthur finally asked, his brow lowering over his bewildered stare. Merlin looked haggard. Fear flashed across his face at Arthur's question. His manservant pursed his lips, slightly shifting his weight to lean on his left leg. Arthur noticed that both of his legs were shaking from the effort of standing too long. Merlin didn't seem to notice. "Arthur, I..." Merlin's legs suddenly jolted, giving in to the trauma. Merlin grunted and fell to his knees. Arthur ran the few paces it took to get beside his injured servant. Merlin was clutching his head with his left hand. "Sorry... headache." Merlin muttered, eyes squinted shut. Arthur put his gloved hand onto Merlin's right shoulder. He saw Merlin flinch at the contact. He tried to get Merlin's attention, bowing down to his level. "Merlin, tell me what just happened here!" Merlin grimaced. "Sire, I..." Merlin inhaled sharply. "I-"

"It was me, Prince." Arthur looked up while Merlin's head whipped around to the familiar voice. The druid girl stood at the edge of the pine tree cluster. Merlin's eyes darkened at the sight of the girl. Arthur's eyes, on the other hand, cleared with understanding. How had he forgotten her? This was the reasonable explanation he had been waiting for. He stood up. "You were the one that expelled those druids?" The girl smiled widely and nodded vigorously at Arthur. "Of course! Who else could have? Your servant saw me, as well as that knight." She pointed her finger past Arthur at Lancelot. Lancelot was half-sitting, half-lying on the forest, hand still clutching his chest where the druid had attacked him. He had been watching Arthur and Merlin's exchange with anxious eyes that were now directed at the druid girl.

Arthur looked between Merlin and Lancelot. "You both saw her use magic?" Lancelot waited until Merlin started to slowly nod his head before doing the same. Arthur sighed with relief. "They both saw you use magic." He straightened up before the girl. "They both saw you save my life. For that I am eternally grateful," He stopped, about to say her name, but not knowing it. Arthur was appalled that they hadn't even asked what her name was yet. He tried to not feel abashed. "-Miss..?" The girl smiled wider, if that was possible. "Laudine is my name, Prince Arthur. Am I trustworthy now that I have saved you and your men from certain doom and demise?" Despite her theatrical words, Arthur was ready to agree with her. However, suspicion still dwelled within his head. The girl— Laudine, sensed this. She huffed out a breath. "Should I revive your men? Would that make you trust me?" Without waiting for an answer, she went to the closest knight (Gwaine), and revived him with a few words from the Old Religion. She did the same to Percival, Elyan, and Leon. Gwaine became coherent as she was finishing the healing spell on Leon.

Gwaine sat up, shaking his head. "Mornings after drinking all night make me feel better than this." He grumbled to no one in particular. Arthur looked over his knight. "Sir Gwaine, how are you feeling?" "Bloody perfect, princess. Can't you tell?" Gwaine stopped shaking his head (he realized too late that it was only making him feel worse), and stood up, wobbling slightly. He focused on Laudine, who had finished with Leon. "Hey! What are you doing-" "_Gwaine! _You shouldn't-" Gwaine interrupted Arthur's interruption, gesturing at the girl behind the prince. "Look at her!" Arthur frowned and turned to face her. Laudine had Lancelot's sword in her hand. She had just picked it up from where the druid dropped it. Arthur's suspicions rose once again. Laudine simply stared at them, looking affronted and annoyed. She walked slowly toward them, sword still in hand. She turned just as she reached Arthur, now walking to Lancelot. She presented his sword to him. He unclenched his hand from his chest, and wrapped it around the hilt of his sword. He nodded his thanks to her.

Arthur spun back to Gwaine, who didn't look as sure as he had a moment before. "She just saved your life, as well as the rest of the knights and me. She deserves our trust." Gwaine looked at her. She gave him a mock curtsy. Or, at least, it _looked _like a mock curtsy. For all that they knew, that was the best that she could curtsy. "Sir Gwaine," she said. "I am Laudine, and I promise you that I haven't gone mad like the rest of my kind. As you see, you are quite safe with me." She smiled at the last part. Gwaine waited a moment before speaking. "My actions before might have been quick tempered, and for that I apologize." He gave her a half-bow.

Percival, now up and about like Gwaine, came closer to the group. "Gwaine still has a valid argument, even if she did protect us." He looked down at Laudine. "How are you not corrupted by the curse?" He sounded more intrigued than threatening, which might have been why Laudine opened up as soon as he asked. "The starting point of the curse was a spring of water in a rock, like a fountain. This fountain has been revered by all druids. Would you like to know why?"

"Why?" Asked Elyan. He and Leon scooted over to sit beside Lancelot, still not trusting their feet as much as Gwaine and Percival did.

"This fountain has blessed the forest. It brings life and enchants the forest to look like perfection. It is the heart of these woods." Leon looked around the lonesome trees. "It doesn't seem to be doing it's job very well, does it?" Laudine nodded her head. "It is because of the curse. Someone put a spell on the fountain, and now it does exactly the opposite of what it was meant to do. That is why the curse decays or maddens everything. Instead of helping and rejuvinating, it spreads chaos and death. And it's spreading past this forest..." Percival nodded. "But how does that explain you?" She looked up at the knight. "I was just getting to that part." She pulled out a necklace made of string from underneath her tunic. On the end of the string was a small glass orb, no larger than a walnut. The orb had a stopper on it's top, which trapped little droplets of water inside of it. "This is pure water from the fountain, which was taken before the curse was set. It still does it's job to bring life and well-being. As long as I have it on me, the curse cannot affect me."

"Well, I think that settles it." Arthur spoke to his knights. They all nodded their agreement. "Arrows to the back, battling druids and cursed fountains. What's next?" Gwaine quipped. Arthur looked down at Merlin, who had switched from kneeling to sitting with his right arm cradled into his chest. "We get Merlin to Laudine's father." Arthur hesitated, "Your father... is he still..?" Laudine nodded. "He was the one who gave me the water, he also has one around his neck. He escaped when the fighting started," she pointed back to the pine trees to somewhere beyond, "the new camp he made isn't far."

Now that the quarrel with Laudine had settled down, the knights finally took notice of Merlin. Gwaine walked forward and knelt beside him. "Merlin, your a sight for sore eyes. How are you feeling?" Merlin rose his eyebrows at the knights. "Better than I look, I suppose." Percival noticed how Merlin was holding his right arm. "What is wrong with your arm?" He asked quietly. Merlin looked down at it, seemingly having forgotten it. "It's nothing, really..."

"_Mer_lin..." Arthur urged. Merlin let out an upset sigh. "I can't feel it. It's completely numb." He hurriedly added, "But I'm sure it's just temporary. Simply an effect of having an arrow lodged up your back shoulder, no big deal." He tried saying the last part with a humorous undertone, which failed horribly as it reminded everyone of the extent of his injury. Gwaine ground his teeth together. "There's still a part of that arrow in his back. Laudine," the knight turned on the child. "if you don't want our trust to run out, then we had better hurry and get to this father of yours." Laudine nodded in agreement. "Let's stop dawdling then."

Arthur looked around his surroundings. "There is only one horse left. Let's get Merlin on it at once, then set out." Gwaine asked, "What happened to the others?" Lancelot stood up and walked forward. "Scared off by the battle. Merlin suffered a pretty hard fall as a result." Merlin muttered, "Wasn't that bad, Lancelot." Lancelot chuckled as he came over to Merlin, took off his cape and wound it to look like a sling. He tied the sling behind Merlin's neck and placed the servant's arm in it. "Of course it wasn't, not compared to everything else." He helped support Merlin as he and Arthur wrapped their arms around Merlin's shoulders. Merlin let out a hiss and grimaced as Arthur aggravated the wound on his right shoulder. "Ah— sorry, Merlin." Arthur said quickly. "Never thought I'd here those words from your mouth." Merlin whispered through clenched teeth. He bit his lower lip and tried to focus on breathing evenly as they carefully treaded toward the horse. The wound felt like it was ripping open once more now that it was being stretched and provoked. The familiar fiery feeling started licking at his back once again, and walking was about as painful as dragging his feet behind. It never became too unbearable, though, to Merlin's delight. "You're alright, Merlin?" Merlin nodded shortly.

Merlin tilted his head away from Arthur, and spoke softly enough so that only Lancelot could hear. "Laudine can't be trusted, she was the one who attacked us the other night." Lancelot breathed out words that were barely audible for even Merlin to notice. "She kept your secret." "And now Arthur trusts her because of that." Merlin really wanted to be revealing these things to Arthur, but Laudine had the advantage at the moment. She knew his secret, and she knew enough magic to be out and about all by herself. She probably had the crossbow in her bag, too, Merlin thought glumly.

_Emrys._ Merlin's musings were stored away as the druid presented her thoughts to him. _How are you feeling?_

_I would be feeling a whole lot better if _someone _hadn't shot me in the back._

_I wasn't aiming at you._

_No, you were aiming at Arthur._

_I healed you and your friends, doesn't that count for something? _Laudine asked. It was true, no one was dying at the moment. He had even seen her revive the knights with a simple spell not a moment before. Merlin thought back to the battle. He had tried to use a simple spell, too. The focus of that spell had backfired and sent blinding pain to his head. It was as if his magic was unwilling, almost like it was rebelling. Yet Laudine was able to heal without the slightest look of pain cross her features. Merlin suspected that it had something to do with the orb of water around her neck. However that couldn't be all of it, because the druids Arthur and the knights had been previously fighting had obviously used magic to defend and attack. No one would willingly go into battle if using their skills hurt as badly as it did him. Merlin was tempted to ask Laudine about it, but stuffed that notion away. It would only reveal him to be more vulnerable than he already was.

He had to admit that he didn't like being vulnerable. He was used to looking it, but actually _being_ it was a whole other story. His pride was quickly failing him as he had to be helped onto the saddle, and then secured properly so that he wouldn't slip off. His back felt better after Arthur and Lancelot let go once he was firm on the horse. "Would you like someone to ride with you?" Lancelot asked seriously. Merlin couldn't understand how Lancelot was serious. "I'm not _that_ bad off." Arthur scoffed, "You were earlier, believe me." Merlin pouted, earning smiles from the knights.

Elyan looked beyond the cluster of knights at all of the druids passed out around them. "What do we do with them?" He prodded one with his boot. "Are they still alive?" Leon indicated to the druid that had been trampled by the runaway horses. "That one is." Arthur spoke up, "We will tie them together." "They're druids. They will escape as soon as they wake up, princess." Gwaine informed him. "And we have no rope." Arthur sighed, looking up at Merlin for any insight. Although Arthur would never admit it verbally, Merlin had moments of wisdom that astounded Arthur to no end. Apparently this wasn't one of those moments as Merlin shrugged his left shoulder. "We can't leave them here, Arthur. They're bound to wake up eventually." Arthur nodded. "Then we will have to be back before they wake up, and deal with them then." "Brilliant plan!" Gwaine clapped his hands. "And when they wake up we can all prance back to Camelot together." "What else-"

A shuffle from beyond the pine trees caught everyone's attention, stopping Gwaine's clapping and Arthur's retort. "What would be stirring over there? Everyone's dead." Lancelot questioned. Arthur walked to his abandoned sword and picked it up off the ground. "Let's go take a look." He glanced at the unconscious enemy druids around him. "We'll deal with them later. Come on."

As Arthur led the way, Merlin gripped the horse's reigns with his left hand, feeling slightly unbalanced without the use of his right arm. Percival and Lancelot walked beside him as they all followed Arthur through the pines. Once on the other side, Merlin was at a loss for words as he witnessed the remains of the druid camp.

The sheer display of whatever happened here had his stomach reeling. He got enough from hearing Laudine explain herself to the knights that there was a curse that turned people mad. Was this the extent of that madness? Merlin was quickly realizing why the druids had been fighting the knights earlier. They hadn't been themselves. It had been weird seeing druids fight back, but at least Merlin was able to know _why _now. It had been strange to witness, about as strange as his magic not working properly. Nothing was as it should have been, for his magic or for the druids. Not even for the forest, Merlin remembered the eeriness from before. Now that he saw this massacre, he knew that things were definitely out of balance within this forest. The entire situation created by the curse was enough to make Merlin squirm, unnerving him to no end. And then Laudine had mentioned that this curse was spreading. Would it reach Camelot? Merlin couldn't really concentrate on Camelot at the moment, as he was focused on all of the dead bodies covering the camp.

While Merlin had the initial shock of the bloody corpses to distract him, Arthur and the knights were looking at something else. There were people moving around the perimeters of the camp. They weren't druids, that much was certain. Their clothes labeled them as more of the bandit, rogue, and thug types. Merlin noticed them a moment after. "Who are they?" Merlin asked the knights. They all looked at Laudine for the answer, who looked as confused as the rest of them. "I have no idea. I haven't seen anyone else here besides my kind and you lot."

Arthur raised his sword. "Who are you?" He called out, loud enough for the brutes to hear him. They stopped in their tracks, noticing that they weren't alone. They all instantly pulled out some sort of weapon, most had knives while only a couple had swords. There were about a dozen of them. Arthur believed that compared to the previous battle, these men wouldn't be a problem. One of the bandits, a balding and slightly larger man, brought both of his hands up to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. There was more rustling around the knights, and soon enough more men started to emerge from out of the undergrowth. The dozen men became three, maybe four times that size. The likelihood of coming out as the champion was slowly losing itself to Arthur every time another one revealed himself. Arthur was so caught up in the sudden appearance of these men that he almost didn't hear the whispering of Lancelot. "Arthur and Laudine, get on the horse with Merlin and get to Laudine's father. We will stall them." Elyan, Lancelot, Percival, and Gwaine nodded in agreement. Laudine slowly made her way to stand beside Merlin's horse.

Arthur wouldn't leave them to fight alone. But he couldn't abandon Merlin. Merlin would only be a liability if he remained here, though. Arthur didn't like the idea of running away from a fight, which made him hesitant to follow Laudine's actions. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see that it was Percival. Apparently staying or leaving wasn't his decision to make, because a second later Percival had grabbed ahold of his waist with his other hand and swung him up onto the horse. Laudine joined him and Merlin a moment later. "Ride!" Leon shouted, raising his sword and charging along with the rest of Arthur's knights. Arthur longed to stay, but Laudine, in the very front, took ahold of the reigns and yanked them so that the horse was charging back into the pine trees.

* * *

_It's 1:00 am on the 2nd. Missed the update date by 1 hour. D':  
Still, I honestly have no idea how I got this up this soon. It baffles me._

_THANK YOU! I feel so honored that over 90 people are following this story!... I'd really like some more feedback to know your reactions/what I'm doing wrong/what you would like to see improved/etc...  
__While you do that, I'll be down here on the floor, where I have stayed in a happy shocked state after seeing how many people actually read this story._

_Next update will be Monday the 17th! (I'm aiming for that, at least.)_


	5. Chapter 5

Leon charged at the army of men as he heard the distinct sound of the horse's hooves pound at the dirt, taking Arthur, Merlin, and Laudine to safety. He raised his sword, picking out a target just as the crowd of enemies swarmed up to greet him and his fellow knights.

Leon stabbed at a brute, already choosing another foe to duel. He faltered unexpectedly, the first man had weaved around his sword, effectively dodging his strike. He struck again, but his enemy performed the same duck and weave movement. Leon grimaced, not liking how his first encounter in the battle was shaping up. These men outnumbered them almost five to one, and he didn't intend to waste precious time dueling each one properly. He swung his sword once again, aiming for the man's exposed side. His opponent easily spun out of the way, twisting his own second-rate sword at the knight. Leon dodged the attack, achieving a quick spout of swordplay as he moved aside. Instead of parrying Leon's flourishes with his own sword, the man weaved out of the way again, creating a considerable distance between Leon and himself. This space gave Leon enough time to quickly survey the second battle of that morning. As he looked, he noticed something abnormal. While it prided him to see that none of his friends had fallen, it was also disturbing to see that none of the foes they fought were falling, either.

His friends had taken the same approach as him—taking on one man at a time. Unfortunately, their luck of getting past that first man was no better than Leon's. As for the other forty odd men that weren't aggravating the knights with their dodges and refusals to die easily... they simply stood there. Leon was pretty sure that they hadn't moved from their spots since he had charged them.

He realized that the only men that had advanced were the ones that they attacked directly. Leon also realized that if the army of men all attacked at once, then he and the rest of his friends would be overtaken very easily, especially if the rest of them were just as hard to kill as the current opponents they faced. So then why didn't they attack as one? Leon then noticed how the brutes and bandits around them were slowly shuffling their feet and filing around each other. They weren't attacking, but they were doing something much more dangerous. They were surrounding the knights.

Leon knew that they couldn't be surrounded, otherwise this battle was lost. Even though it had been his idea, Leon refused to let this diversion simply be a diversion. He wanted it to be a victory. Although this battle was made to be a distraction, Leon was going to make sure that it was a worthy distraction, one that wouldn't go wasted. He and his fellow knights _had _to win this fight. And they couldn't win if they were surrounded.

And yet, Leon was at a loss. He still had his first opponent to overwhelm, then forty more. Leon willed his friends to make quick work of the enemies they each battled, there was very little time to be spared. He watched as Elyan finally landed a blow to one of the men—a sword straight into the brute's stomach. If not for the morbid inclination of it all, Leon might have smiled at watching Elyan's sword pierce the man. If Elyan was finally starting to knock these people down, then it wouldn't be long before the rest of the knights started turning the tides. They could still win this, if they were fast.

With that new hope in his head, Leon returned to his own fight just in time to notice his opponent rushing at him. Leon took a step back, accidentally tripping on one of the dead druids. He landed on the ground heavily with an "oomph!", just as Elyan uttered a howl of fright and fury.

Ignoring his own disadvantage, Leon was ripped from his own fight to see what had Elyan in such a fuss. The optimism from Elyan's killing blow just a moment before slowly drained out of Leon as he looked at the scene. He blinked, unable to form the right words or thoughts to express what he was seeing.

It simply wasn't possible.

Leon lived in a world where dragons, sprites, and witches dwelled, but this was a new low that he had never encountered. Leon's face changed as he reflected, and he came to the dreaded realization that he wasn't as smart as he thought he had been. He drew his gaze away from Elyan, and returned back to the man he had been battling, who was staring down at him. However, Leon's mind was still stuck on what he had seen with Elyan. He barely noticed his enemy's sword sliding underneath his armor, into and past his gut, until the blade's point stuck out through his back, touching the forest floor.

Elyan, meanwhile, was staring in utter shock at the man he was _certain_ he had just stabbed in the stomach. He had yanked his sword out with stunning speed, almost as if he was drawing it back from thin air, instead of a man that should be dead. Except, the man wasn't dead. He wasn't even _bleeding_. He didn't falter, faint, or show any sign that he had just been dealt a mortal wound. Elyan looked down at his own blade, not finding any new blood on it. As he looked down, he saw Leon out of the corner of his eye. Leon was on the ground, gutted by his own fighting partner. Elyan's eyes grew wide, his hand almost losing the grip on his sword.

"...Leon." At once, Elyan's alarm was drowned out by grief for his friend. Leon was the oldest and most experienced knight in their knit of companions, he was even more experienced than Arthur. Elyan's grief quickly turned into anger and desperation, and in one swift motion, he sliced his sword through his enemy's neck. His eyes remained large and unblinking as his sword passed right through the man without causing any physical damage to the person. What was going on? _How?!_ If it were possible for his stare to get any larger, then it certainly would have when the man retaliated by stabbing his own sword into Elyan's chest.

Elyan stared, dumbfounded and completely out of answers, although the questions were piling up rather fast. For one, why didn't he feel the sword pierce him? Two, how was he not bleeding and writhing in pain on the ground by now? More importantly, how was Leon, who was _supposed_ to be bleeding and writhing in pain on the ground, standing up and passing his hand through the opponent that supposedly beat him?!

Elyan looked down at the sword still in his chest. He took a step back, removing the blade from his body. He raised his free hand, and ran it over his chest, which was still quite intact. He gazed up at the bandit he had been fighting, and quickly moved in to jab the man. Elyan's fist passed directly through bandit. He swallowed, unable to figure out what was happening on his own. "Can someone _please_ tell me what's going on?!" Elyan yelled once he found his voice. He turned to Leon. "And how in Avalon's name are we not dead?"

"They are not real." Leon spat out, ignoring the weird feeling of being stabbed, but not actually being _stabbed_. He looked around the druid camp. His worst fear from before had come true—the army had surrounded them. Not that it made much difference, considering how they couldn't even harm them. Leon guessed that they did this simply to intimidate the knights, and he was pretty sure that whoever made these things didn't actually expect their secret to be found out so fast. "Illusions brought about my magic, most likely." The illusion stabbed at Leon again, but the sword passed through his body, completely unnoticed by the knight. Gwaine, Percival, and Lancelot had also stopped fighting once Elyan was stabbed through the chest. Gwaine kicked one, and his foot passed through the man into empty space. "That's..." Gwaine raised his brow. "...unusual, to say the least."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot more to be said." Leon spoke. "Who conjured them? And if they can't harm us, then why?" Percival knitted his eyebrows together, and spoke with a voice much lower and much quieter than usual. "A diversion."

Gwaine shook his head. "No, we were the diversion for Merlin and—" He was cut off by two different bandit illusions stabbing him in two different places. "Will you knock that off?!" Gwaine almost yelled at them. He took a step away from the faux enemies. He noticed the looks he got from his mates. "What? So I shouted at a couple of illusions made from magic. You all were fighting them a moment ago." Gwaine tried to focus his mind back onto the problem. "We were the diversion so that Merlin, Princess, and Miss Princess could escape."

"Laudine." Lancelot whispered. The hushed voice didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the men. "What was that?" Inquired Leon. Lancelot sighed. "I think Laudine might have had something to do with this. She may have been the one behind this." "Why?" asked Percival. Again, Lancelot sighed. "She was the one who shot Merlin. He told me himself... He... he saw her in the trees aiming the crossbow." The last part of Lancelot's speech came out somewhat strained.

"What?!" Gwaine raged. He swung his sword at the nearest illusion, becoming more infuriated when the blade passed through the fake man without any injury. "I knew there was something wrong with her. And now she's alone with Merlin and Arthur!" Gwaine abruptly halted, becoming as calm as one could be in this situation. "We have to go and find them." The fury still burned within his eyes._  
_

"Quiet, Gwaine." Leon muttered. Gwaine just stared back. "Don't you want to rescue our friends?" Leon nodded, affronted by what Gwaine was suggesting. "Of course I do! However, I do not think that Laudine is solely to blame for this. I also do not believe that she is the one that we should be worrying about at the moment." Gwaine tightened his grip on his sword. "And why is that?"

Leon was scanning the crowd of illusions. "There are people missing." His fellow knights swerved their heads, trying to see what was so blatantly obvious to Leon. He continued, "There were approximately eleven bandits when we first discovered them. You all remember, one was balding—the one who whistled to bring all of these illusions."

"...and?" Prompted Elyan.

"And," Leon persisted, "the balding man, as well as the original eleven, are nowhere to be found."

At that observation, the knights quickly searched out for the faces of the first eleven they had found. It was as Leon said. Leon took a step toward the younger knights. "Lancelot, Gwaine—I understand that Laudine has many things to answer for," his stomach twisted at the notion that she was the one behind their couple days of terror upon entering this forest. "but our main problem should involve the eleven _real_ men who are missing. Percival, you agree with me that this whole battle was a diversion... a diversion so that we would be occupied with the fighting while those eleven bandits could either escape, or more likely,"

"chase after Merlin and Arthur." Gwaine supplied the last bit coldly. Leon nodded. Percival twirled his sword a couple times. "Then what are we still doing here?"

The younger knights followed their superior, Leon, as they passed through the pine tree cluster. They immediately found the horse tracks, indented more heavily into the earth than the other runaway horses because of the extra weight atop it's back. "Elyan and I will follow the tracks, and hopefully we will catch up to them before it's too late." Leon began. He gestured to Lancelot, Percival, and Gwaine, then at the unconscious druids. "Stay here and guard them. If they stir, knock them out again." The three knights nodded, brandishing their swords and starting to patrol the area.

Gwaine called out to Leon and Elyan as they started their trek. "Make sure you bring Merlin back in one piece!" "What about Arthur?" Elyan shouted back. Gwaine laughed lightly. "He reminds us daily that he's the Prince of Camelot. Surely the noble Prince of Camelot can handle his own!" Elyan waved to Gwaine as he and Leon vanished into the wilderness.

Gwaine continued smiling, hoping that it would balance out against all of the horrible things that had happened so far. He continued his walk around the first battle's perimeter, looking at all of the unconscious druids. Percival and Lancelot were doing the same. All three had their swords ready to strike at a moment's notice. Gwaine surveyed the battleground, spotting the druid he had knocked out in the first few seconds of the fight. Then there were the two that he had seen Percival and Lancelot defeat together, and in the distance was the one that had defeated him, later to be silenced by Lancelot. No need to keep an eye on that one, then. There was also one that was obviously trampled to death by the horses, Gwaine dismissed that one too. The other two druids were farther away than the rest, they were the ones that Laudine had blown away.

Gwaine thought he understood Laudine, but he was starting to suspect that he really didn't. She had tried to kill Arthur, but then saved him later. She shot Merlin, but healed him straight after. "You're sure that Laudine was the one to shoot Merlin?" Gwaine asked Lancelot. Lancelot nodded curtly. "Absolutely."

Gwaine stared at the two druids that had been subjected to Laudine's spell. Something felt off. He looked at the druids again, all in turn. He returned to the two that Laudine had taken care of. "There were eight."

"Hm?" Percival and Lancelot looked at Gwaine's direction. "What did you say?" Gwaine looked up, "There were eight druids. I only see seven." Percival counted, realizing the same thing. "In that case, what happened to the eighth?"

"What happened, indeed!" A chilling voice settled over the battle site directly behind Gwaine. Percival and Lancelot raised their swords toward Gwaine, who felt the cold steel of a knife blade come into contact with his throat. "Don't move, and you might not die. Drop your swords." The cold voice spoke up behind him. Gwaine pursed his lips, biting his teeth together in frustration. Lancelot, Percival, and he all dropped their swords as one. A dull clatter rang out as they hit the ground. The knife didn't leave it's position from Gwaine's exposed throat. The icy voice returned, a hint of madness in the voice. "Your little sorcerer friend gave me quite a fright, but no matter now."

Gwaine spoke thinly, trying to keep the blade from slipping into his flesh as he retorted to the druid, "The sorcerer isn't our friend." Laudine wasn't a friend. Far from it, in fact. The druid laughed, the madness becoming more transparent. "I am sure he will be sad to hear that you said that." Gwaine felt a chill worse than the druid's voice wash over him. He felt the coldness, the _magic_ spreading out, and saw Lancelot and Percival collapse on the ground, rendered unconcious. He followed them soon after, sliding into a deep sleep. However, one word from the druid's last sentence reverberated in his head. _He? _

* * *

_AHH! Over 100 people following (;_;) ← tears of joy._

_Not my favorite chapter... either because Merlin isn't in it, or because it feels kinda weak for me, or because it's hard to keep five knights relevant while trying to progress the story... sigh. Oh well, it's here. I can't edit it anymore x_x  
__I am so sorry it's shorter, I really did mean to have Arthur/Merlin/Laudine's section in here too (they were actually supposed to be in the last chapter too, but they keep on getting pushed back)! But I went a lot longer on this part than I expected to, and I just liked the way the chapter ended itself here... Next chapter will be longer! Fear not!_

_Please review, constructive criticism is welcome! (over 100 people reading this=5 reviews... I'm beyond happy, but I want to hear your thoughts! Don't be shy!)_

_Next chapter will be in two weeks (loads of stuff happening the next couple weeks) on Monday the 1st. _


	6. Chapter 6

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

_Fo—Five._

_Six._

The sixth time had Merlin groaning out-loud. He kept trying to tell himself that it wasn't Arthur's fault, but by the sixth time he felt that insufferable piece of armor and chain-mail jostle against the arrow wound on his back, he felt his composure starting to collapse. The horse was carrying the three of them past the pines and deeper into the woodland at a frantic pace, hindering any control at keeping still and not bumping against one another.

_Seven._

Merlin ground his teeth together as the arrowhead nestled within his flesh nudged itself deeper into the inflamed injury. Merlin lost concentration for his little counting game, instead deciding to focus on the trees blurring past them. Counting hadn't worked as well as Merlin had hoped—it wasn't distracting him from the irritating pain, and was only succeeding in strengthening his headache, which had never quite left him after the incident with magic. The new idea of staring at the trees they were riding past wasn't helping very much, either.

The farther they rode, the more Merlin was able to see evidence of the "curse" Laudine had spent so much time explaining. The trees were looking more and more rotted, with huge pieces of barks stripped from the trees, some of which that had turned black. The leaves were crumpled and shredded on the floor, none of them were attached to the branches anymore. The undergrowth was also devoid of any greenery, and some of the smaller shrubs were crushed from fallen trees that had taken their roots up with them, completely rotted to the core.

Laudine, who was steering the horse past all of the wreckage, slowed down slightly to veer around a particularly large uprooted tree. The slower pace finally gave Merlin's back some relief from Arthur's accursed armor. "Your father, how much further is he?" Arthur asked from behind Merlin.

"Not far." Laudine responded, still steering the horse around the tree with the reigns. "We had to take a detour so that we could separate ourselves from the camp."

"Will my men be alright? Are you sure we can't go back?" Arthur asked worriedly. Laudine kept the horse at a walk once they past the tree obstacle. "Those knights are probably much better fighters than all of those men combined. But it's strange..."

"What's strange?" Merlin asked, careful to remember all that Laudine had done, and not get too friendly with a potential enemy. Laudine shook her head slightly. "There shouldn't have been so many people there. It's impossible, I would have known about it. This place has been far too quiet for so many people to be lurking about." Laudine trailed off, thinking to herself. Arthur spoke up, thinking optimistically. "At least they cannot use magic. That's good, right?" Laudine chuckled to herself. "Just because someone doesn't look like a magician doesn't mean that he isn't. Isn't that right, Merlin?"

Merlin stayed quiet, whether because he didn't want to give Laudine more to play with or because of the ever-growing headache. He thought it would just go away, but it was slowly stirring up and becoming stronger as they continued riding. The returning pain from his physical wound was also adding more distress. He vaguely heard Arthur's reply, "Merlin doesn't know enough about that sort of stuff. He lives in Camelot, it's not like he encounters magic on a regular basis."

"Of course, you're ri—AAGH!" Laudine's reply, laced with sarcasm, was quickly cut off by a shrill shriek. Merlin and Arthur both jumped at the scream. Arthur loudly demanded what had happened while Merlin's eyes trailed to where Laudine's hand had flown to upon screaming. "Arthur!" Merlin tapped Arthur with his good arm, grabbing the prince's attention and directing it at Laudine's thigh, where her hands were hovering around a dagger embedded in her skin.

All of Merlin's thoughts about Laudine's treachery immediately vanished upon seeing the dagger. He promptly sought out for her mind. _Keep still, don't move the horse. How bad is it? What can we do_?

_I was trained in the healing arts. I know what to do. _Laudine replied to him, eerily calm in her head, although the twisted pain in her face was a startling contrast. She breathed deeply, biting her lower lip and knitting her brow together, before yanking the knife out of her thigh and quickly using her sleeve to stop the blood flow. Merlin turned his head, cringing as it stretched his wound, and talked to Arthur while simultaneously ripping off his neckerchief (Merlin wasn't sure how Arthur had managed to replace his shirt with cape bandages, and yet miss the scarf around his neck completely), quickly pushing it onto Laudine's injured thigh. Laudine took the fabric from Merlin as he continued talking to Arthur. "Someone threw that knife from the woods, we're being attacked again."

Arthur scouted the dead forest with his eyes. "Could it be the mysterious bowman from earlier?" Merlin refrained from sighing. "Highly unlikely, sire."

"Right, then." Arthur jumped down from the horse, drawing out his sword by the hilt as he hit the ground. Merlin and Laudine stared at him strangely. "What are you doing?" Merlin exclaimed. Laudine was right behind him, shouting at Arthur with a pained voice. "We can't fight, we need to hasten to my father! Now!"

"You both will be." Arthur responded to the two still on the horse. He looked at Laudine, locking her wild eyes with his. "I need you to ride as fast as you can with Merlin. Get to your father, and make sure that both of you are healed. I'm trusting you with him, so if anything happens, it will be on you. Understand?" Laudine subtly tightened her grip on Merlin's neckerchief with one hand, and grasped the horse's reigns with the other. "What about you?"

Arthur smiled grimly. "I'll hold off whoever is following us. I doubt they'll want two commoners if they'll have a chance to fight a prince." Merlin felt like laughing in Arthur's face at those words. However, the laughter died inside of him instantly. He shook his head vigorously. "Arthur, you can't leave me with her. You have to come with us, please!" Arthur shook his head more slowly than Merlin, clapping his gloved hand on his servant's leg. "Merlin, leave the heroic stuff for me, alright? You both are injured, this is the best way for you to get safe. Now stop dawdling!" He lifted his hand from Merlin, and slapped the rear of the horse, sending it back on it's wild run. Merlin twisted all the way around, causing his back to scream in agony. "Arthur, _no!_" He heard Arthur yell out for his opponents, and a second later he saw six men emerge from behind the trees. Laudine directed the horse to veer from the straight path, causing Merlin to loose sight of Arthur.

Merlin righted himself in the saddle, ducking just in time to avoid some broken branches dangling low. He shouted at Laudine, "_Go back!"_

_He said to continue on, Emrys. That is what I'm going to do!_

_Those were the same bandits from the camp! If they defeated Leon and the others, then Arthur will be no match for them. Turn around now!_

_Why?_

Laudine reared the horse back, causing it to halt unexpectedly, jolting Merlin to almost falling off the horse. He steadied himself with his working hand while looking at Laudine, who was twisted in her seat to stare up at him. "What?" He asked, dazed. Laudine continued staring, frowning more. "Why go back for him? He is the Prince of Camelot. His father warred against magic and everyone using it. Why go back for someone who is exactly the same?"

Merlin stared back, completely perplexed. He was used to the people in Camelot being blind, but even the druids? "You're serious?" He said under his breath, before addressing her directly. "You've seen what he has done. He hasn't persecuted you, he _accepted_ you. He didn't kill you when you first met, actually I'm not sure what happened when the two of you first met... but you're still here, so it mustn't have been that bad. He isn't like his father at all. He has a chance to be great, to be the greatest! Haven't you seen that?"

Laudine looked down. "But why Camelot? Why do you stay there, Emrys?"

Merlin smiled slightly at that. "I already told you. Because he will be the greatest. I'm there to help it happen, that's all. Oh, and to polish his armor, I guess." Merlin mumbled the last part as an afterthought. Laudine mimicked Merlin's quiet smile. "In that case, I have no reason to disobey a command from the future greatest." She turned around to face the front, and jerked the reigns so that the horse would continue moving.

Merlin was about to argue, but a spark appeared in front of them, and a giant wall of fire engulfed the trees in front of them, stopping their progress. The heat radiated off of the trees onto the horse and it's riders, causing the horse to rear up and lurch both Merlin and Laudine from it's back.

Merlin swerved in mid-fall, landing on his front instead of his injured back. He initially landed on his unresponsive right arm, still in it's sling, and found that not even a heavy hit could make him feel more than a dull tickling sensation down the limb. He felt so much more a second later, as Laudine landed right on top of him, slamming into his back and sending waves of fire to lick and gnaw at the arrow wound. He grunted heavily as Laudine rolled off of him, and he registered that she was also suffering from her stabbed thigh. She had already tied the neckerchief around it beforehand, but Merlin could see the blood staining it already. Laudine sent him a look that told him that she was fine.

The fire was climbing up the trees and out around the horse, causing it to back up against Merlin and Laudine, still on the ground. Merlin ignored the headache that was still in the back of his head, festering away. He knew what would happen if he used magic again, but there wasn't really any choice. There never was, usually. He stretched his left arm out toward the flames, the words already leaving his lips before he could second guess himself. "_Forþ fleoge!"_

The spell's magic flared up in Merlin's eyes as he said the words, and the magic was an instant away from leaving him before it slammed back with a force that would have sent him to the ground if he had been standing. The headache that had been stirring in the back of his head thrust itself forward, slamming and pouding against his head with full force. The spell's energy was completely gone, and Merlin felt his own started to ebb away as the headache began taking effect. He redoubled his effort, determination set in his eyes. "_Forþ fleoge!" _

Again, the spell rebelled.

He gritted his teeth, refusing the spell lenience as it pleaded with him to die out. His magic was something that was always apart of him, ever since birth. He had heard the stories of his levitation tricks with his mother's pans and bowls when he was a toddler, and in Camelot his magic was always there to either counteract some evil sorcerer's plans or get him in bed earlier by "quickly" shining all of the prince's boots. Merlin had never encountered a time where his magic was unwilling to serve him or was fighting against him, and it honestly scared him to think about what this meant. Without magic, he was nothing but a servant (and a lousy one at that, by Arthur's standards). His magic made him who he was, and he was determined to get it working properly again, no matter what the cost. The determination in Merlin's eyes grew, as did the glowing gold. The magic relented, and Merlin pushed past the headache and stinging sensation behind his eyes as the spell was released, creating a giant wind to render the fire null and extinguished.

Merlin finally relented after the struggle, he found his left hand steadying his keeled over form above the ground. The headache was a fully-fledged migraine now, teaming up with his wounded back. The fiery pain searing up and down his back traveled upward, and bore into his head, as if his skull was being torn apart with a hot blade from the base of his neck to the point in between his eyes. Merlin felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he kept them tightly squinted shut as the warmth from the earlier magic was evolving into a heated hearth full of red hot coals and snapping embers behind his eyelids.

Everything was out of proportion. Everything felt _wrong._ The very magic inside of him was screaming it, so much so that it was fighting back against him. Was it the curse? Merlin believed that to be the only logical explanation, but if that was so, then why was it only him? Laudine looked perfectly fine, and the druids, although completely insane, didn't look like they were suffering like he was. Maybe they _had_ suffered. Maybe it was that suffering that led them to insanity. Merlin was starting to believe this position, still in silent agony as the headache tore away at his mind. Yes, insanity would sound like a good option after a while of putting up with _this._

The sound of a snapping branch finally made Merlin open his eyes. In front of him, the fire was depleted. Black smoke billowed up into the air past the tallest trees and into the open sky. Merlin slowly turned, careful not to do anymore damage to his body. Behind him were figures appearing from behind trees and shadows. There were five in all. Merlin recognized them from the druid camp, but they weren't the same ones that were supposed to be fighting Arthur. That meant that Arthur was still possibly alive. The thought didn't make Merlin extremely happy, but it did settle some of his nerves.

Laudine entered Merlin's vision as she limped to stand slightly in front of him. He got onto his knees, ready to leap up at a moment's notice. The torment still raged on in his head, but Merlin found it manageable to push down slightly so that he could focus on this issue. He noticed that Laudine was still carrying her bag, although it must have been a pain to carry now that her leg was injured. In that light, it must have been agonizing to even stand up on both legs, Merlin realized as he noticed her limp. He remembered trying to stand earlier, and he had enough trouble _without_ the injury being to his legs.

"Who did that?" Laudine jerked her head in the direction of the smoke pillars. "Who blocked our path with fire?" She asked again, her hand slowly reaching for her bag at her hip. One of the brutes, a burly man with a balding head (Merlin recognized him as the one who had signaled for the added forces at the druid camp), stepped forward. He had a wide smile that flaunted yellowing teeth. "My handiwork, child. Can't say we was expecting such a short show of it, though."

"Why don't you just make it come back?" Laudine asked, to Merlin's fright. Was the girl trying to get them killed? Merlin wasn't sure if he could stand using his magic again, and here Laudine was all but begging him to. The man replied gruffly, "Spells are 'bit tricky for me, so I better use them when they count t'most." He took out a sword, while three of the four other bandits also took out some sort of sword or knife. "And these weapons will be more useful is what I'm thinkin'." he finished.

Laudine eyed the one person who hadn't drawn a weapon as she opened the cover to her bag. "Why not let someone else try a spell, huh?" The balding man laughed at her. "'Cause I'm t'only who can use magic, girl!" Although Merlin couldn't see her face, he was sure that Laudine was smiling from the tone in her next sentence. "Thank you, that's all that I needed to know." She drove her hand into her bag, and quickly pulled out a small crossbow, already prepared with an arrow. She aimed and fired at the man, shooting him in the thigh, earning a guttural yell from the man as he dropped his sword in shock. He fell to the ground, clutching his thigh.

"The same thing happened to me," She said quickly while reloading, "and I'm guessing that this is yours?" she asked the man who hadn't drawn a weapon, showing him the knife that had pierced her leg once her crossbow was armed. "So, this is what vengeance is called." With that said, she aimed the crossbow at the weaponless man, a skinny person with a crooked nose, and fired it into his chest before he could say a word. He dropped dead onto the forest floor.

Laudine loaded again, pointing the weapon at one of the three men that were now charging at her and Merlin. Merlin, up to this point, had just been watching. He suspected that the crossbow had been on her, and the most obvious place would have been the bag, he realized too late. She was a good shot, better than good, actually. She was definitely better than Merlin was (which wasn't a big feat, considering that Merlin's best weapon was a shield), which was strange for a druid. Why was she, a druid, so good at handling a crossbow at such a young age? For that matter, why had she been shooting at them the couple days before? Merlin never figured that part out. She seemed friendly enough... then again, she had been acting _semi_-friendly to the bandits a moment before whipping out the crossbow and wreaking havoc.

He saw Laudine fire the third shot, which landed in the center of one of the oncoming men's stomach, causing him to freeze and topple to the ground lifelessly. He noticed that Laudine wouldn't be able to load her next arrow fast enough before the last two men reached her, so he braced himself and pitched himself at the two armed men. The three of them fell to the ground, and one of the brutes hit his head on a rock upon landing, fazing him. Merlin silently thanked his luck, while at the same time getting flung off by the last remaining man. He landed on his back, and his vision blacked out for a moment. He yelled out as his back jarred in protest. The bandages shifted underneath him, irritating the wound and causing it to start bleeding heavier. Merlin's vision came back as hazy colors and shapes, but he was able to make out the last remaining brute looming over him, knife in hand. Just then, a flying arrow came into his sight, hitting the man in the shoulder and sending him to the ground beside Merlin.

Merlin tried to control his erratic breathing, and attempted to calm himself from yet another near death experience. He wished he could say that it would be the last one for the day, but he could hardly believe something like that.

He released the tension from his back as he sat up, trying not to look like he was in as much pain as he really was. He looked over at Laudine, who was staring at him once again. "You _jumped _them." She said comically. Merlin raised his eyebrows, a hint of a smile on his face. "Yeah, so?"

Laudine cocked her head. "_So_, why didn't you just use magic?" Merlin opened his mouth, then closed it quickly. He still wasn't sure if "Laudine" and "trust" were a good combination. Laudine supplied her own voice for the lack of his. "You can't, right? It... hurts?" The beginning of the smile disappeared from Merlin's face. He waited a few moments before nodding. Laudine limped closer to him, leaning heavily on her uninjured leg. "The stories say that Emrys _is _magic. It is embodied in him, at least that's what the others said." She didn't ask him if this was true, but continued, "_If _that's true, then this curse could harm you the most. I don't think you were awake when I first explained it, but the curse directly attacks magic. The very magic in the air that surrounds us and the magic in people has all been contaminated." Merlin's eyes widened. "Is that why the druids are insane now? Their magic turned them or something like that?"

Laudine nodded. "Exactly! The fountain that the curse was cast into used to enliven the magic and air in this forest. It would keep the forest and it's inhabitants alive and well, keeping the flow of magic strong. Now that the fountain is corrupted with the curse, it deadens everything, and since it directly attacks magic the most, then..."

"Then it's directly attacking me, is that it?" Merlin supplied the rest. Laudine nodded. Merlin thought about the situation. He turned back to Laudine. "How do you know so much about this?"

"I..." Laudine paused.

"...Girl..." Laudine and Merlin stopped, swerving their heads to the balding man that she had shot in the thigh. He was on the ground, still clutching his thigh. He was staring at Laudine with huge eyes, filled with torment. "...I remember you. You were there! You got away before... but, this time..."

"Hey, stop talking to her!" Merlin shouted at the man, who only smiled, showing his off-white teeth again. "This time... I'll kill you for sure! _Acwele_!" He choked, eyes glowing gold. Merlin's eyes also glowed gold as he realized that the man had used a killing spell, and he pressed his magic forward, giving it no time to protest before it knocked the man over, unconscious. Merlin reeled, his headache becoming harder and harder to supress. He couldn't be overcome with the accursed pain now, though. He knew that spell that the man had used, and looked over at Laudine, who had collapsed as soon as the spell had been uttered.

No, no, no... she couldn't die now! Merlin felt the fire ripping through his brain from the use of the spell (it was actually supposed to have sent the man flying back a couple yards or so, but Merlin was just glad that it had done _something_), and quickly tried his best to ignore it as he slid a couple of feet over to where Laudine now was.

He turned her over so that she was facing him. Her eyes still had some light left in them. Oh, thank goodness. Thank Avalon, she was still alive! That "sorcerer" must have really been weak. She looked up at him, trying to talk. Her lips barely moved, and no sound was heard. She resorted to an easier way of communication.

_Emrys..._

_You're going to be fine, you're not dead._

_Obviously. _She scoffed inside his head. _But… no matter how delayed, the spell is still working. I'm dying._

"No you're not. You can't die without explaining everything to me! Arthur told you to get me to your father, and you're still going to do that!"

_Through those trees that caught on fire is my father's house. Just go straight, it's a little shelter._

"You're coming with me, too."

_Emrys, you need to know, I never meant to shoot at you._

_Let's talk about that when you can actually speak, okay?_

_Now. I need to tell you now! _The force of her words made Merlin quiet down. She continued, still staring up at him. _My father told me to ward off people. He said to keep people from coming into the cursed part of the forest. We were the only druids that weren't corrupted, we had to protect it! We couldn't protect the fountain, but this was the best that we could do. I was only trying to scare you and the others off, I was never going to hit anyone. _She chuckled slightly in her throat. _Of course, now I know that Camelot's people never get scared off... And then you moved unexpectedly when I shot the arrow last night, and it was too late! I realized you were Emrys, and I had to save you. So... I'm not bad now, right? _Laudine asked shyly.

"…We were searching for you earlier, how come we never found you?"

_Arthur should really teach his men to look up at the trees more often. They're so much fun to climb. _Laudine replied jokingly.

"But even I couldn't find you, nor could I sense you."

_My necklace... the orb of pure water protects me... even from you, Emrys. _She replied drowsily, her eyelids slipping slowly. Her gaze drifted away from Merlin, but he talked quickly to bring her gaze back to him. "Hey, hold on! You're fine, remember? Not dying."

_Could you take it?_ "...What?" _The necklace. It might help your magical problem. It will protect you from the curse. Take it, please, Emrys._

"Laudine, don't..." _Please._ She practically begged him. He pursed his lips as his face contorted into sorrow. Gingerly, he lifted the necklace from her neck and around her head until it was free.

_Thank you._ Her eyes were distant, looking directly at him, yet looking at something far, far away at the same time. "Laudine, I am so _sorry._ I should have trusted you, and... yeah. Yeah, you're right—you're not bad at all. You're great. Thank you." She didn't respond. She kept staring, transfixed on some point that Merlin would never be able to see. Yet the light had left her eyes for a while, now. Merlin found that he couldn't bare it anymore. He took his left hand, and brought it to pass over her face, closing her eyes.

He stood up, the pain flaring up in both his back and his head. He didn't really care. What was the pain of the living compared to the pain of the dying? He took the necklace with the orb of water, and wore it on his neck. The pounding headache that had been tearing away at his head for the past morning vanished, leaving the faintest of whispers that promised it's return if he took the necklace off. He looked at Laudine's body once again. He wanted to say thank you one more time, or maybe apologize again, but he felt that if he did, she would probably come back as a spirit and complain about how she didn't die so that he could waste time.

Merlin started his path through the burning trees, as Laudine had explained. If he kept going straight, he would be able to see the shelter she had described. His back was flaring up as he walked, but the orb of water was helping with the pain so that it became bearable once again. Merlin found himself wanting to thank the little druid girl again. He had misjudged Laudine in so many ways, he found himself to be quite pathetic.

In a few minutes he reached his destination. A little hut made out of branches and different assortments of fabric woven throughout sat in between two trees that helped keep it standing. A middle aged man with dark hair that resembled Laudine's was exiting the little house. He had a heavy looking staff that was carved with druid symbols all along it.

He looked at Merlin with worried eyes. His voice was hoarse and quiet, "I smelled smoke, what is going on? Who are..." His speech faded out when he noticed the necklace lying against Merlin's bandaged chest. The man's worn down hand went up to cling on his own identical necklace. "Where's Laudine?" He asked more forcefully, his worn-down voice rasping, "What have you done to her?"

Merlin halted. This could turn very bad very quickly. He held up his good hand, trying to make it look like he wasn't a threat. "Sir, my name is Merlin. You're daughter was bringing me here, and we were ambushed. She..." Merlin lowered his hand a little. "I'm so sorry, sir, but she did not make it."

The man, who was obviously Laudine's father, looked absolutely heartbroken. His countenance fell, grief overtook his face. His hand slid down from it's hold on the necklace. "Laudine... is dead?"

Merlin echoed the same grief that the father had. "I am so sorry, sir. She was fighting for me, and one of them just—"

"_My little girl is dead!_" The father screamed, his hoarse voice barely able to take it. He looked directly at Merlin. "You..." He trailed off for the second time, staring right past Merlin. Merlin turned, and saw two of the bandits from before. It was the two he had tackled. One was heavily bleeding from the shoulder where Laudine's arrow had pierced the skin, his entire arm was caked in wet blood that was steadily dripping onto the forest floor. His face looked pale from all of the blood loss, but he still managed to look threatening. The other man that had hit a rock when Merlin had jumped him was also looking pale, but there wasn't any blood to be seen. The two were handling knives. Merlin felt the quiet peace that had settled over him at Laudine's passing quickly draining away.

He backed up until he was side-by-side with Laudine's father. "Do you think you could get rid of these two?" Merlin asked hopefully.

Laudine's father just looked at him, crestfallen. "She's dead." Merlin turned somber. This man wouldn't be able to help in his state. Merlin looked at the man's necklace, remembering his own. It had certainly helped with his headaches, he wistfully hoped that Laudine was right in her assumption that he would be able to use magic too.

The two men were stalking up onto Merlin, their knives threateningly poised in front of them. "Surrender yourself to us, and we might not have to use these." They played with their knives. Merlin raised his hand, determination once again settling in. "I'm telling you to stop."

The two laughed. "Or what?" The one with the bleeding shoulder asked. Merlin sighed slightly. "Turn back. Come any closer and you'll regret it, I promise."

The man with the bleeding arm laughed again. He took a step forward. "Oh! Will ya look at that? Not regretting anything, boy." The man lunged forward with his knife in the air. Merlin's eyes glowed gold, and for the first time that day, he felt no resistance. His magic was completely under his control, ready to protect him from any danger. The warm fires didn't turn into any uncontrollable demon set to torment him, but were released smoothly as he spoke clearly in the Old Religion. "_Ic þé wiþdrífe_."

The man with the bleeding arm was thrown backwards with a shout. He landed in some dead bushes, completely unconscious. The branches of the bushes snapped and cracked under the brute's weight, until they were completely crushed and the man was now on the ground. Merlin stopped, his eyes fixed on that spot. Two people were hiding behind those bushes. Merlin soon became wide eyed, instantly recognizing those two faces, who were as slack-jawed and unblinking as Merlin was. Leon and Elyan were staring right back at Merlin, who had just used magic.

Merlin opened his mouth, not quite sure what he was going to say. He didn't have much time to say anything, though, since a second later he was on the ground, completely dazed. He had been hit over the head with something hard and heavy. He blinked a couple times, now seeing that he had been struck with a staff with a bunch of druid carvings running up and down it. Laudine's father looked down at him, enraged. "You... You let her _die! Laudine is dead!" _He said painfully. Merlin felt his vision was failing him once again, but was still able to make out Laudine's father as he turned to the other bandit, still standing. "Take him. Please, just take him from my sight!" Merlin wanted to plead his case, to make him understand. Then somehow make Leon and Elyan understand. Would they leave him there? Would they abandon him and tell Arthur? Merlin felt like this was the worse possible time to slip into unconsciousness, but he found that he was unable to stop the blackness from engulfing his entire mind. Maybe… in light of everything, it would be better if he just stayed like that.

* * *

_Aargh! 2:00 A.M. on June 2nd x_x I failed you once again. I need to start the editing process earlier, I think. (If there are any mistakes, please let me know and I can correct them immediately!)_

_Who remembers that summary you all read before clicking on this story? We're finally reaching that part! Huzzah!_

_Farewell, Laudine... I do not think that OCs are not my strongpoint. I got her name from one of the Arthurian legends that this story is roughly based on. Guesses?_

_Thank you so much all of the reviews and alerts, I do this happy-dance-sort-of-thing-I-don't-really-know whenever I see them! I'm really appreciative to everyone who's taking the time to read. :D_

_Next update will be next Monday the 7th :)_


	7. Chapter 7

With an extra flourish from his sword, Arthur cut down the sixth_—_and final_—_bandit. He cast his gaze from one end of the forest to the next, not yet ready to sheathe his blade as he checked for anymore thugs. The fear of losing after being outnumbered no longer worried Arthur now that he had successfully defeated six strong foes. Although, to be fair, only half carried real swords, and none of them looked that bright. That would have been Merlin's reply to his victory, Arthur realized dimly.

He sheathed his sword, promptly ignoring that fair Merlin-ian thought. A victory was a victory, and one man beating six men was quite a feat, no matter the external circumstances. Nodding to himself as a self-congratulations, Arthur strode past the battle scene and made for the path that Merlin and Laudine took.

Arthur's focus was to get back to them before anything else unexpected showed up. The last thing those two needed was to face peril alone without anyone to defend them_—_specifically Arthur. Two injured people with little to no battle training didn't have much hope on their own, and while being on horseback did help, Arthur was sure that he would be a _far_ greater help to them. Not that he had been of much help this past day, Arthur reflected, his mood darkening at the thought. He wasn't able to catch the person who shot Merlin, he couldn't heal his friend, and he had been sent off by his own knights like some damsel with Merlin and Laudine (who were both _much_ more suited for the damsel role than he was). No matter...his recent single-handed victory boosted Arthur's confidence up to his usual princely self, and now he would make sure to finally be of some use once reunited with the two damsels.

They would fix Merlin, then most likely fix this curse on the forest, or druids...or something of that sort, and then finally leave this god-forsaken place forever. Maybe Laudine's father would lend them more horses, if he had any. The one horse that remained could barely seat three, and Arthur could scarcely imagine walking all the way back to Camelot. He would do it, though. He would even let Merlin be the one to ride the horse all the way back to Camelot (which would most likely happen, unless another one of them became mortally wounded somehow), if it meant ending this drawn-out quest._  
_

Camelot would welcome him back with open arms, and he could tell of his thrilling battles against druids and bandits, and listen while his own knights explained their fight against the horde of bandits, then finally, they would divulge into how he and his men conquered the curse that would have spread out and doomed Camelot if not for their heroics.

Arthur stopped his dreaming as soon as he realized what he was doing. He was getting ahead of himself, and the last thing he needed was to be over-confident. Confident? Sure, all of the battles that morning had earned him the right to be confident! However, over-confidence would get you killed. Personally, Arthur favored coming back to Camelot as a hero than as a corpse. Arthur stored away the future Camelot celebration, and focused his task back onto Merlin and Laudine.

He stopped.

Arthur looked behind him and saw how his latest one-man battle was still in sight. He turned his head back around to the front, staring blankly at the foreground. He had no idea where the horse had taken Merlin and Laudine. He hadn't been paying attention to where they were going due to the fight at hand, and Arthur found himself to be lost.

Not wasting anymore time, he knelt down onto one knee, scouring the ground for hoof prints. He stood up, twisting around as he did so, and walked back a couple paces, looking every which way for those tell-tale prints in the black and corroded earth. "Which way...which way, now..." He mumbled to himself absently. It took him several more backward paces until he found the indented and tossed up dirt from the horse's frenzied gallop. Sparking up an air that resembled something in between determination and eagerness inside of him, Arthur followed the horse tracks a little ways before a stench quickly halted his advance.

It smelled like burnt wood, accompanied by an unpleasant smokey odor that usually followed a bonfire. Arthur briefly passed his clothed arm over his nose, imagining a bonfire of a much larger scale than he had ever seen in Camelot...one that also produced a lot more spoke, given the strength of the horrendous smell. He looked up and saw many clouds of smoke billowing up into the blue sky, tainting the mellow color with it's blotchy black hues.

Arthur abandoned the tracks, now heading for the columns of smoke rising from the forest not too far away (although, if he would glance down, he would notice the tracks leading him to the exact same spot). After Arthur turned sharply around a sickly-looking elm tree and ducked beneath a twisted and cracked branch, he finally reached the smoking area. Black smoke was billowing heavily from three colossal trees. Heat was still radiating off of them, but the fire was long gone, put out somehow before spreading. Arthur wasn't sure how one was to go about killing a forest fire, and it showed from the perplexed expression that crossed his face.

Another oddity caught Arthur's eye as he approached the scene. It really shouldn't have alarmed him, given everything that had happened that day, but one could never really get used to the sight of possibly dead bodies scattering the ground. Arthur knelt down to the closest dead man, whom he instantly recognized as the lead bandit from the druid camp. Arthur swallowed dryly, forcing himself to believe that this didn't mean that his knights had been overwhelmed. These men might have just run off when they realized that the knights of Camelot were a force not to be reckoned with... or perhaps the fight had somehow made it over here, and the knights had ensured their victory with killing blows. However, if that was the case, then where were his knights? Arthur realized that he was straying from the real problem again, and laid a hand atop the man's chest.

No heartbeat.

Arthur looked the man over, and concluded that the man had died from the arrow in his thigh. Blood loss was the likeliest of answers. Although he was no physician like Gaius, Arthur knew a thing or two about battle wounds. Although, an arrow to the leg was a strange way to go. Arthur inspected the arrow, and a dark thought started to poke at him. He moved away from the man's chest to get a better look, and the dark thought evolved into the familiar black pit he had found himself in when Merlin was shot. The unwelcomed return of such an agony was due to the druid symbols that were roughly etched into the wooden shaft of the arrow.

The bowman had come back. Just...great. That was the last thing Arthur needed, but nonetheless, he was quick to act. He leapt up and surveyed the landscape, although he knew in the back of his head that it was pointless. He had been a sitting duck for a while now, so the danger was most likely already past him by now. This reasoning still didn't stop him from being on his guard, though. His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw in a second's count. His eyes spotted the rest of the bodies, also taken down by arrows of similar fashion. His eyes strayed to a rock that was out of the bodies' reach, yet there was plenty of blood covering it. The same went for another spot a few paces away from the rock, and once again another few paces from there, where yet another body was.

Arthur's stomach reeled upon recognizing who the last body was. He tentatively walked forward, trying to keep his eyes on Laudine, yet failing miserably as he kept glancing around, sick at the thought of finding Merlin here too. He cautiously reached Laudine's form and knelt down slowly, performing the same check he had done on the head bandit. There weren't any wounds or injuries on her to blame for her abrupt end (except for the thigh wound she had obtained earlier, but she had already dealt with that), but Arthur had to remind himself that they were outside of Camelot, where magic was much more tolerable...even magic that could kill a twelve year old girl.

Arthur stole away all of the incoherent emotions rising up inside of him, and performed another sweep of the corpses to make sure that Merlin was not among them. Satisfied (in the most morbid sense possible), Arthur distracted himself from the carnage to take a better look at the arrows. He found one with blood covering the arrowhead on the ground, not sticking out of any of the deceased. He picked it up, looking over it's every detail. The runes were consistent with the others covering the rest of the arrows. Arthur supposed that this was yet another way to mark your arrows. Some archers would paint a colored band on their arrows, others would tie a knot or have specific feathers used for the fletching, and apparently this was the druid's way.

Arthur looked at he trajectory of the arrows and how they had landed on each of the several victims. The course of the arrows were all aimed from the same direction, and Arthur started walking backwards as he mimicked the direction that the arrows had flown. He reached Laudine again, and passed her without a second thought. The shooter must have been behind Laudine, perhaps even behind the still smoking trees? Arthur turned around and walked in between two of the trunks, only to find an odd sight greeting him on the other side.

It wasn't as mind-stopping as discovering a litter of bodies covered in arrows belonging to a murderous bowman, but it was still a surprise_—_albeit, _pleasant_ surprise_—_to see his own white horse attempting to munch on some dead grass. At least the horse didn't run away like the others, Arthur was happy to know. However, the happiness didn't spread on after that. Laudine was dead, and the horse was abandoned. The question on his mind was simple, but could be detrimental.

Where was Merlin?

"yeaaAAAAUGH!" Almost as soon as Arthur thought the dreaded question, another disturbance caught his attention. At once he sprinted to the source of the howl, which took him a mere minute to reach. His short travel was helped by more shouting and some cursing. By the time he found the spot, he already had a pretty good idea of who was making such a ruckus. It wasn't Merlin, but he wasn't too disappointed. Two of his finest knights were just as good a catch.

He slowed his pace, observing the accident that had occurred. If not for the seriousness that plagued Arthur at that moment, he might've stood back and laughed for a while. Still, Arthur was able to crack a smile at what he saw. Leon and Elyan were trapped in a pit in the ground, no deeper than five meters. How they had gotten there, Arthur had no idea. However, he could assume that they were just as surprised as he was, if the hysteria they were making was anything to go by.

"Gotten yourselves into a bit of trouble, I see." Arthur said as a greeting, carefully standing at the edge of the chasm. Instead of grinning up at him, or getting back at him with some sot of remark, the two knights stared up at their prince, faces blank. After an awkward moment of just staring, Leon cleared his throat. "...Sire! Glad of you to join us!"

Arthur ignored their swift glances at each other, and also chose to dismiss the finicky nature Elyan seemed to be in. Everything would be better once they got out of this mess. He recognized that even while standing on each other's shoulders, it would be hard to get one out, let alone both of them. "I should find something to pull the both of you up with." He said, half to himself and half to the two knights in the pit. He looked around, not spotting a branch that looked sturdy enough to carry the weight of Leon or Elyan. He finally noticed a small hut on the other side of the pit. "A-ha!" He grinned once again, glancing down at his two knights. "Whoever lives over there will hopefully lend us some rope, if they have any. I'll be back shortly, don't go anywhere!" Arthur chuckled to himself.

Arthur disappeared from their view, leaving Leon and Elyan to themselves and their thoughts. It had happened very quickly and _very_ unexpectedly. They were scouring the forest for any sign of Merlin, Arthur, or Laudine. They found Merlin. Oh... they found him, alright. More appropriately, they found out _about_ him. Leon could only speak for himself and his own personal experience, but he was sure that Elyan's reaction was similar to his during that jaw-dropping moment that they saw Merlin use magic.

Merlin! The man that was the personal servant to Prince Arthur of Camelot! The man who stood behind Arthur in every battle against magic and sorcery was an actual sorcerer! Their Merlin had been practicing magic in the heart of Camelot, where he would surely die if found out. Not only was he using magic, but Merlin's demeanor seemed to change as he casted the spell. Leon no longer felt the presence of poor, defenseless Merlin, but instead saw a competent, not-afraid-of-anyone-and-here-is-why sorcerer! It was unreal to come to terms with this. The idea was so unlikely, so unnatural, that Leon was having a hard time believing what he was witnessing.

Eventually, Leon grasped onto the reality of it all. His instant reaction was cold. Magic was outlawed in Camelot, and here was the proof that Merlin was directly disobeying that law. Merlin was a traitor to them all, he had betrayed the trust of Camelot and the trust of Arthur. Leon shivered at the thought of Arthur also finding out. Arthur hadn't reacted well to Morgana's treachery, and he dared not think what Merlin's little secret would do to him. It was hard enough losing a friend and half-sister, but losing a best friend (Arthur could deny it all he wanted, the evidence of his friendship with Merlin was undeniably there) could affect him even more.

Leon suddenly made eye-contact with Merlin once the opposition had literally been blown away. Merlin looked petrified. Leon found that he could do nothing else except stare back at the servant-turned-sorcerer. What could he do? He quickly realized that he had to answer that question once Merlin was knocked out by another druid. Elyan looked at Leon, the question in his eyes. Leon knew that Elyan would never ask it out loud, but the question still loomed over them. Would they rescue Merlin now that they knew what he really was?

Leon closed his eyes for a moment, keeping himself calm. He already knew the answer. Of course they would help their friend. They would rescue anyone in danger, and Merlin was no exception. "Well? Let's not just stand here, we have to rescue him!" Leon urged Elyan on.

Elyan nodded, a faint smile on his lips. Leon watched as Elyan took the lead, taking one step forward. Leon noticed that Elyan was walking right next to the bush that Merlin had propelled the bandit into. Elyan took another step, level with the bush, and suddenly there was a shift underneath their feet. Elyan halted, but the work was done. Another shift came, and then Leon, Elyan, the bush, and the unconscious bandit all fell as the earth gave way beneath their feet.

A few choice curse words later, and Elyan and he were staring up at a rather bemused Arthur. Leon thought back to Merlin and what could happen if Arthur knew. A nagging sense of duty was still tugging at Leon, though. First and foremost, he was loyal to the King and Camelot. Merlin had betrayed that loyalty, and was to be considered an outlaw now. Leon would hope that his thoughts would make more sense voiced aloud once Arthur left to fetch some rope for them. As soon as Arthur was out of earshot, Leon put a hand on Elyan's shoulder and backed him up to the rugged walls of the pit. Elyan was tripping over the bush and bandit as he backed against the wall. Leon kept his hand on the younger knight's shoulder, making sure that he was the main focus. "We are not to say anything about Merlin to Arthur, do you understand?"

Elyan's eyes widened a bit, his mouth closed into a thin line. After a brief hesitation, Elyan whispered crisply at the elder knight. "He_—_Merlin, was using spells, though! _He's a sorcerer! _Shouldn't we tell Arthur?"

Leon contemplated, devising a plan for the two of them to undergo. "...We tell Arthur that Merlin was taken, nothing else." He gripped Elyan a little tighter on the shoulder when he started to argue, and tried to make his point as clear as possible. "Do you really think that now, in the woods without any friendly assistance, miles away from Camelot, is the best time to tell Arthur about Merlin? No, we find Merlin, and we keep him close."

"...If Arthur found out that we knew... The laws of Camelot say—"

"We're not in Camelot." The words felt like cold steel on Leon's tongue. What he was doing was going against everything he had been trained for and instilled in his very being since before he was knighted. "Once this disaster in these woods have been averted, we will deal with Merlin. Either he will suffer the consequences at Camelot, or he won't come back with us." Those were the only two options Leon saw for Merlin. Camelot would not tolerate sorcery, and Merlin knew that from the start. He must have known the consequences... Leon felt his head becoming shaky from thinking of Merlin as a sorcerer now. It really didn't fit.

Arthur eventually came back with a thick rope made out of tough twine that would be hard to cut in one try, even if they used their swords. "Whoever lives there wasn't present. They probably won't mind if we borrow this." A lot of scrabbling up dirt walls ensued, and after having Elyan fall back down onto Leon once, then Leon getting his foot stuck in a gnarled root, the two knights were finally back on the surface, if a little bit more bedraggled than before.

Elyan was brushing the dirt off of his knees as he looked up at Arthur. "Merlin's been captured."

"Yes!" Leon said hurriedly, making sure that Elyan knew not to reveal too much. "Sire, he was taken by the bandits that we were supposed to have fought off. I apologize, they tricked us back at the camp. Elyan and I pursued them, and witnessed Merlin's capture before...this happened." He waved at the hole behind him.

Arthur's face contorted when they mentioned Merlin's new state. His eyes grew wide while his mouth opened the slightest bit to let out a breath, and his bearing became more heavy. "He's captured?" He asked Leon, almost looking shocked. His brow darkened as the air around him changed once more from frightened to determined. "Okay—and where are the rest of my men?"

"They are back beside the druid camp, guarding the druids that attacked us." Arthur nodded at Elyan's response. "As for Merlin...do you know _where_ they took him?" A little of Arthur's inner troubles snuck out with his next line of inquiry.

Elyan and Leon shook their heads. "We did not even see which direction they went. Oh, um," Elyan started, "speaking of missing people, where is Laudine?" Arthur tilted his head low. "She was, unfortunately, killed. I found her body a little ways back, along with more dead bandits. Which reminds me, we shall have to bury all of them, won't we?"

"we can't leave a trail of dead bodies, can we?" Elyan said to both Arthur and Leon. "The dead should be buried." Arthur paused for a moment, his eyes straying to the ground beneath their feet. "The dead _will_ be buried."

"We won't have to dig, anyhow." Elyan murmured, glancing back at the pit.

"I agree with you whole-heartedly, Arthur, and I hope that you mean after we've rescued Merlin, correct?" Leon asked hesitantly. Arthur nodded, grinning slight. "Of course. Merlin wouldn't last long enough if we did all that." Arthur tried to sound lighthearted, but his eyes betrayed his thoughts. Arthur started heading back where they came from. "Let's go round up the rest of those knights and rescue my servant, shall we?"

Arthur was feeling an icy layer of resolve spread across his mind. The past couple days (had it really been only last night when Merlin was shot?!) were turning into a disoriented mess. The future wasn't looking too well, either. He led his men back around the bend, satisfied that his horse was still there. "Sir Elyan, if you could retrieve the horse." Elyan jogged in front of Arthur and secured the horse by the reigns.

The two knights looked up in awe of the burnt trees that were still producing smoke. Arthur wrinkled his nose at the returned stench, and walked between the smokestacks. His eyes caught a newcomer at the massacre sight once he passed the trees. A man, older in his appearance, was kneeling in front of Laudine's body, head bowed. Arthur heard the sound of a sword being pulled, and looked behind him. Leon and Elyan had both pulled out their swords at the sight of this man. Arthur quickly looked back, and saw that the man hadn't responded to the new threat of three knights. Arthur labeled him as a druid by his robes, and also noticed that he had no weapons except for a burly-looking walking stick. "Who are you?"

"...She's dead." was all of a response Arthur got. The man's grey eyes slowly met Arthur's. "My little girl is _dead!_" Arthur recoiled a little at the man's haunted expression. So they finally found Laudine's father. Arthur desperately wished that it could have been in better circumstances.

"Sire," Leon whispered to him urgently as he walked up to the prince. "He was the man who helped them take Merlin." Arthur found himself recoiling once again. He was just about to go down with the man and give his condolences for his loss, but..."Where's Merlin?" He demanded, also unsheathing his sword. Laudine's father payed no attention to him, still muttering and moaning. "He has black hair and he was injured. _Where was he taken?_" Arthur asked, more forcefully this time. The man didn't respond, but there was a soft chuckling in the air. Arthur watched the man and realized that it wasn't him who was making the noise. He looked around at the other corpses. Leon nudged his arm, nodding at the corpse of the lead bandit that Arthur had checked earlier—the one with the arrow in his thigh. The dead man was laughing, his chest was moving up and down. "But he's dead!" Arthur whispered, truly astonished. "I checked!" Although, Arthur did have that suspicion about dying from a wounded thigh.

"Did you check his pulse?" Elyan asked.

"His heart." Arthur replied curtly. Elyan shook his head. "A man can still be alive even if his heart stalled for a short time." Leon and Arthur cocked their heads. "And how do you know that?" Leon asked. Elyan fumbled for an answer, before replying shortly, "Gwen."

The laughing was getting louder, and Arthur was getting quite sick of it. "Watch him." He ordered the knights, pointing at Laudine's disheveled father. He walked past the older man, and made for the apparently not dead bandit. He leveled his sword with the man's chest. The bandit quieted down after seeing the sharp steel, but a grin was still plastered on his face. "Have you seen him?" Arthur asked. The bandit nodded. "I's seen 'im. Quite a piece o' work 'e is. Gave me a nasty 'eadache, that's fo' sure." The man moved to rub his temple, but Arthur cut him off by hovering his blade closer to the man's recently revived heart. The bandit was starting to understand that Arthur was all ears to his talk. "If 'e's been taken by one o' me men, then 'e's a goner, 'specially when they finds out 'bout all them tricks of 'is sleeves."

Arthur countered the man. "We'll see about that. We can trade you for him. Their leader for a simple servant...shouldn't be that hard." The man laughed again, not caring about the sword aimed directly above him. "I'm not any leader! I'm not 'oo put all of this together. Our leader was 'oo set the bloody curse onto the world and rounded us up, sayin' that we's be spared from the curse. They won't care 'bout me, but they will definitely care about that Merlin boy."

Arthur's eyebrows furrowed together. "In that case, who is your leader?" The man smiled at this, showing off his mismatched teeth, and told Arthur in the quietest voice Arthur had heard him speak so far.

Arthur's face immediately turned grave. He turned to his knights, who also heard the hushed whisper of the bandit. Their faces mimicked his, and Arthur knew that they had no time to waste. They had to rescue Merlin.

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_... So...I'm really..._truly_ sorry about missing yet another update. Busy summer is busy. (If there are any mistakes in this please let me know and they will be corrected immediately!)_

_AHHHHHH! (dies a bucket load of times) I just found out that this story made it into a Community (The Best of Merlin Archive) and, well... (dies yet again). Thanks for loving this story so much! __Thank you once again for the positive feedback, I can't give Merlin his hug yet, but you all deserve great big bear-hugs! Thanks a bunch! :)_

_Next update will be Monday the 29th? I put the question mark there because I'm going off island for a little vacation this week, and I'm not all too sure about being able to write it all then. If I don't make the deadline, keep your eyes out for it later that week!_


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